iAm Finished
by iCarlyFanFreek825
Summary: When Freddie gets fed up with Sam, he decides to quit being friends with both girls. How will they react? What secrets will be revealed in the tech-boy's absence? Seddie! Rated for safety.
1. I Am Finished

**Hay Yall! I'm FINALLY done with my mini-vacation :D Which means…ANOTHER STORY!!!!!! (release the confetti, balloons and multi-colored feathers here). But I didn't do this all my own. What Lurks Beneath gave me this idea and he asked me to write it, and we've both been throwing in ideas to the story plot for a while now, and it's ready for you! We hope you like it!**

**Disclaimer: I own only this idea, not anything to do with iCarly. Trust me, things on the show would be different if I ran it :)**

* * *

  
"Hey Carlotta, Fredwiener." Sam Puckett greeted as she entered the Shay apartment. Carly Shay and Freddie Benson were sitting next to each other on the couch.

"Hey Sammie." Freddie responded.

"Don't call me that Benson." Sam snapped as she slugged him in the arm. He just cringed when Sam's fist came in contact with his bicep, and then went back to his normal state as if it hadn't bothered him. Freddie was really getting on Sam's nerves today. She fed off of his pain and their fights, but today he was acting as if nothing bothered him. It was driving the blonde crazy. Why wouldn't he react?

Sam jumped next to Freddie who was in the middle of the couch, resting her feet on his lap as she laid sprawled across the sofa.

"Sam, can you get your feet off me please?" his face was solely politeness.

"Why don't you just get up!?" the Puckett roared, trying to start any form of a fight.

"Fine, I'll move." Freddie stated calmly and lifted Sam's feet off of his legs and moved to the chair near the couch.

Sam growled under her breath, hiding the true anger that wanted to show on her face. She was getting beyond irritated now. Why was he acting like this? They hadn't had one fight today. He just took in Sam's words calmly, and responded nicely. It made the blonde sick.

Sam suddenly just jumped off of the couch and started to walk to the kitchen. Maybe this would start a fight. Like he would say 'Why did you make me move if you were going to get up right away!?'. She looked at Freddie out of the corner of her eye. Nothing. He just continued to stare at the television screen, and interested look on his face.

"Hey Sam," Carly began, making the blonde pause in her tracks "Can you get me one of the Cupcake Jake cupcakes from in the kitchen while you're up?"

"Sure Carls. But only-"

"If you get one too. Of course you can." Carly cut in with a smile.

Freddie moved his gaze to Sam "Can you get me one too?"

Sam would have spit something like 'Get it yourself!" at the boy, but she had a better idea "Whatever Fredblob."

Sam went into the kitchen, and picked up one of the cupcakes from the tray on the counter. She ate it in roughly three bites. Then, she grabbed three, one more for herself, and one each for Carly and Freddie.

She walked out of the kitchen, almost eagerly, eating her second cupcake on her way, then handed Carly one of the two cupcakes left.

"Thanks Sam." Cary said and took a small bite from the mini cake in her palm.

"You got mine?" Freddie asked.

Sam's face twisted into one of her most evil smiles "Absolutely."

She strode over to the boy, and smashed the cupcake in his face, the cake crumbling while the whip cream stuck everywhere. Sam was sure she would get a reaction out of this.

But all Freddie did, was scrape a finger across his face as he collected some of the residue off his cheek, and put it in his mouth "Mmmm, just as good as always. But did they change the filling?"

Carly thought for a moment, acting as if nothing was wrong "I think they might have. It tastes…sweeter?"

Freddie nodded in agreement "Mhm, really good. Better than the old ones."

While Carly and Freddie chitchatted about the new cupcake filling, Sam just gaped at Freddie wide eyed. 'How did he not care?' Sam thought 'I would have gone haywire if anyone had done that to me'.

"Anyway, you need a towel Freddie?" Carly asked with a slight giggle.

"A towel would be nice." Freddie smirked as Sam fell down to the couch, still in slight shock. 'I mean seriously, how would that not bother him?'. This question just kept running through her mind.

Carly rose from her seat, still holding her half eaten cupcake, and went to the kitchen to grab a hand towel for Freddie. She skipped back into the living room, now grasping a light blue piece of fabric.

"Here you go." Carly smiled, handing Freddie the towel.

"Thanks. I'll be right back." the boy said as he stood up.

"Where are you going?" Carly asked.

"Oh, to the bathroom. That way I can make sure I get all of it off my face."

Carly nodded as Freddie left.

The brunette fell to Sam's side "Why do you torture him like that?"

Sam didn't answer. She was still baffled Freddie was acting the way he was.

"You really should ease up." Carly continued, trying to prolong the conversation, despite the fact Sam never answered.

Sam crossed her arms in thought at her best friends words 'Psh. Ease up. If this isn't bothering Freddie anymore, then I'm going to have to kick it up a notch. Really get him where it hurts.' Sam thought to herself, still not responding.

"Sam, are you alright? Did Gibby's underwear rip out of his pants when you gave him a wedgie again?"

This brought the blonde out of her thoughts "What? Oh, yeah, I'm fine. And aside form being up his butt, so is Gibby's underwear."

"Really? Because you look like you're thinking. And you don't think unless something's bugging you. What's up?"

"The sky." was suddenly heard as a now, clean faced Freddie Benson reappeared and sat back in his chair.

"God you're so stupid." Sam snapped, making attempts of all sorts as she tried to get a rise out of the tech-nerd.

"I get better grades than you." Freddie said in as a matter of fact-ly tone.

Despite how badly she didn't want to show it, Sam cracked a small smile. She was getting just what she wanted.

"Exactly. You a nerd, and that's what nerds do. I may be failing half my classes, but at least I'm not shamed with the title dork." Sam wasn't really 'kicking it up a notch', but a fight was a fight in her eyes.

"Actually, nerds rule the world." Freddie said back. He still wasn't in a fighting tone, but the 'sidekicks' were bickering, so Sam was happy. This was how she survived.

"No, geeks just tell themselves that to feel less nubbish."

"I wouldn't call myself a nub." Freddie replied. At first, annoyance was boiling at the pit of his stomache, but he pushed it down to try and maintain the battle of being nice to Sam he's been fighting all day. So he remained calm.

The two weren't really fighting, but still throwing words at one another.

"You are too a nub. That's probably why you're dad left."

The smile wiped off of Freddie's face.

"Sam." Carly cut in warningly, alarm on her face.

"Don't talk about my father." Freddie almost whispered, his eyes becoming slightly wet.

"Why? Is the nubbish baby gonna cry?" Sam mocked.

"Sam." Carly warned again.

"Don't." Freddie said sternly, a tear falling from his cheek.

"Aww. He's crying. Do you need me to go get your daddy? Oh, I can't he isn't here."

"Shut up!" Freddie yelled as he rose out of his seat.

"Easy Benson."

"No! You're dad isn't here either! You have no right to talk about my father! He's none of your business! Just SHUT UP!"

"It's America. I can talk if I want to. Geeze, no wonder your dad left. Say one thing and you explode."

"My dad didn't leave! He killed himself!"

"W-what?" Sam said, dumbfounded. Carly was speechless. Freddie had never said his dad killed himself.

"You know what?" Freddie said, anger in his voice "I'm done."

"What do you mean you're done?" Sam asked, confused by what he meant.

"I'm done. Finished with it all. I'm finished with being your friend. I'm finished with you picking on me day and night. I'm finished with iCarly. I'm just…done."

Without another word, Freddie stormed out of the Shay home.

It was silent for a few seconds before Carly turned to Sam "What did you just do?"

* * *

**So dat be da first chappie! Whatcha think? I'd love to know what's going through your heads so please click on that review button and make my day :)**


	2. He Really Meant It

**Hey guys. First off, I want to sincerely apologize for the long update time. I NEVER take this long. I just got involved with another project, and I had tons of homework, so it was very hard for me to update. But even though my other story thing needs an update, I am choosing this. Please forgive me for the long wait. I really am sorry :(**

**Second, thanks for the reviews :) I'm glad it's good so far.**

* * *

"What did you just do?"

Carly repeated her question. More out of disbelief than wanting an answer. Sam hadn't spoken.

"Sam, you talked about his dad. Why did you do that?" Carly actually wanted an answer this time.

The blonde just sat there, thinking rather than answering Carly.

"You know how sensitive Freddie is about his father. Why did you bring him up?"

At this point, Sam snapped out of her thoughts "Eh, he's just being a baby. H-he'll get over it…" she was doubting the words she was saying.

"He won't just 'get over it' Sam. You talked about his…dead father…" Carly trailed off, uncomfortable with what she was talking about.

"Well, I didn't know his dad killed himself. You could have told me!" the blonde roared in frustration. But she was far from admitting why.

"I didn't know either! I've never talked to him about his dad. When I first met him, his dad wasn't there. And every time I bring it up, he mumbles something and changes the subject. How was I supposed to know?"

"Because he tells you everything!"

Silence fell between the two worried girls.

"Do you think he really meant what he said? That he was done with us?" Carly questioned, concern heard deep in her tone.

Sam, also worried but not showing it, blew it off "I'm sure he was just mad. Let him cool off. He'll be fine tomorrow.

"You really think so?"

"I did say I was sure." Sam replied with a smile, even though she wasn't completely positive.

Carly let out a sigh of relief "Okay. You're right. He's just mad. He'll be fine tomorrow." the brunette was just saying this as a comfort to herself, trying with all her strength to believe what she was saying. When deep in her stomach, she knew she was wrong.

* * *

Carly Shay walked into Ridgeway, nervousness overwhelming her. Each minute that had passed since Freddie stormed out the night before, just brought out more and more concern in Carly. She didn't know how serious Freddie had been, and the question was eating her alive. At this point she was worried about losing one of her best friends.

Carly reached her locker, and shakily dialed the combination. _Why am I so nervous?_ she thought _I didn't do anything to make Freddie mad. He'll still want to be my friend, right? Besides, he wasn't serious. He was just mad at what Sam had said. I have nothing to worry about._

The girl sucked in a deep breath, calming down slightly. She got her things ready for class. Just then, Sam came around the corner, a piece of beef jerky hanging out of her mouth.

"Morning Carly." Sam greeted with the food still in her mouth.

"Ugh, Sam! Do you have to talk with your mouth full?"

The blonde ripped the chunk of meat hanging from her lip out of her mouth "Why so edgy Carls?"

The brunette stared wide eyed at her best friend "Do you not remember what happened yesterday?"

Sam thought for a second "Oh, right. Fredmoron had that little hissy fit."

"Sam! He was really upset!" Carly squealed.

"I told you yesterday that it was nothing. He's probably fine now." she stopped as her eyes averted away from Carly's face "See look," she pointed to a certain brown haired tech-producer "he doesn't even look mad."

Carly turned so she had a good view of Freddie. Sam was right. He seemed fine.

"I'm gonna go talk to him." Carly said.

"And I'm gonna go give a nerd a wedgie. Late."

The two friends nodded at one another as they parted their separate ways.

Carly slowly walked to Freddie. He was standing next to his locker, playing with an app on his Pear Phone.

She stood there silently for a moment, waiting for Freddie to acknowledge her existence. But he just seemed to ignore her.

"Uh, hey Freddie." she started.

"Carly." his tone was emotionless.

Carly waited for Freddie to say something more, but he continued to stare at the phone's screen.

"So, um, how are you?"

"Fine." it was the same emotionless tone he'd just used.

"So you're not mad at Sam anymore?"

"Yup."

"Wait, 'yup' you're mad, or 'yup' you're not mad?"

"The am mad one."

Carly's face formed into a slight frown "Oh." she paused for a second "But you're not mad at me, right?"

"Not mad at you. But not friends either."

Carly was surprised "What do you mean?"

"Well, usually the term 'not friends' means no longer hanging out, or talking all the time."

"But why? Sam was the one who talked about your dad. It's not like she really meant it. She was just playing around." Carly's voice was starting to rise.

"And there it is."

"There was is?"

"Why you and me aren't friends anymore."

Carly was flabbergasted "What are you talking about!? I didn't do anything!"

At this point, Freddie shut off his phone and put in his bag "Exactly."

"What are you talking about!?" Carly was getting extremely frustrated by Freddie's ambiguousness.

"You do nothing."

"Yeah, so you're mad at me becau-"

Freddie cut her off "You do nothing. Nothing at all. When Sam is taunting me, you do nothing. When she is beating me up, you do nothing. Always do nothing. Nothing. Nothing. Nothing." his voice was beginning to rise as well.

"That's why you're mad at me? Even if I _did_ stick up for you, Sam wouldn't listen to me. That's just how she is. She's gonna pick on you no matter what."

Freddie sighed, agitation now shown clearly on his face "I'm tired of 'that's just how she is' Carly! If the price I have to pay for being your friend is having to take that all the time, then I'm not paying it anymore! Especially if you aren't going to help me through it once in a while!" Freddie was yelling now.

Carly was speechless. She'd never seen Freddie act this way. Carly knew Freddie was sensitive about his dad, but she didn't think he was _that_ sensitive.

"So…you're just not going to be my friend anymore?"

Freddie sighed "No."

"Is…is this it then?" Carly could feel her heart break. Was she losing Freddie forever?

"I guess it is." the coldness of Freddie's tone sent chills up and down Carly's spine.

The two looked at each other for a moment in silence. Then Freddie just turned and walked away, leaving Carly all alone.

"So, how'd it go?" Sam asked perkily from behind Carly suddenly.

She slowly turned to face her blonde friend "He really meant what he said Sam. He really meant it."

* * *

Alright, not too long but a chapter's a chapter right? Let me know what you think please :)


	3. Carly Is Frantic

**This chapter was brought to you by my the music of my Top Rated list in iTunes, Monster Energy Drink, Pringles, and my attitude of screw homework-I've had it all week and my readers need an update.**

**I hope you like this**

* * *

"He really meant it Sam. He really meant it."

Sam was confused "Meant what?"

"He's done. He doesn't want you. Me. He doesn't want our friendship." Carly's pace of speech was picking up as she became more frantic "He doesn't want to talk to us. He doesn't want to do iCarly. He doesn't want to hang out. He doesn't-"

Sam grabbed Carly's shoulders and cut her friend off "Calm down Carly. It's just Freddie."

The brunette's eyed widened "Just-just Freddie!? Freddie is not a 'just'! He's one of my best friends! I can't lose him! We hang out. We talk. We do iCarly. We were friends and now he's gone!"

Sam sighed. Carly was in an alarm state "Why is he even mad at you anyway? I'm the one he hates."

Carly threw her hands up in exasperation "Well now he hates me too! I never stuck up for him when you picked on him, so he's mad at me! I knew I should have said something! I knew it!"

"Carly, even if you had told me to stop, I wouldn't have. Don't blame yourself." Carly was just getting more hyped up.

"Carly, breathe. Alright? He'll come around. He just needs to cool off."

"That's what you said yesterday! And he's still mad!" Carly grabbed Sam and started shaking her violently.

"CARLY!" Sam screamed, making some surrounding students finally look. Carly stopped shaking Sam as Sam looked Carly in the eye and said "He really just needs time okay. One or two weeks with his little nerd friends and he'll come crawling back. Plus, we don't have to deal with his nubiness for a little while. So just chill alright."

"Sam, I can't just chill. He's important to me." Carly had calmed down slightly, but she was still on edge.

"I know. But I promise, he will come back." Sam consoled, even though she wasn't sure herself.

"You really think so?"

"I know so."

Carly thought for a second, then she sighed "Okay, yeah . You're right. He wouldn't _really_ leave us. He wouldn't."

Sam thanked God Carly was relaxing. Then the warning bell rang for class.

"C'mon Carls, we have to get to chemistry."

The brunette nodded, and the pair of friends made their way to first hour.

* * *

"Sam, please?" Carly begged.

"No."

"Pretty please?"

"No."

"Pretty, pretty please with ham on top?"

"Ugh, why!?" Sam screeched back. Carly had been pleading with her all the way home to check on Freddie when they got to Bushwell Plaza.

"Because. He might have realized he was overreacting by now."

"Carly, when he's ready, he'll come to us. Why should we go to him?"

"Because we're the ones who hurt him. We should go first." Carly tried convincing her friend as they entered Bushwell Plaza.

"So! Carly, it's only been a school day. At least give him until tomorrow."

"Why can't we just check now? If he's mad at us still , then we can just ask again tomorrow."

"What if he's about to forgive us, but us coming over and irritating him makes him change his mind?"

"Why would saying sorry make him mad."

"Maybe saying sorry won't, but what if he doesn't want to see us and he just wants us to leave him alone?"

"Oh come on Sam! Please, for me?" Carly begged again as they reached apartments 8C and 8D.

"No."

Carly said nothing, she just gave Sam her best puppy dog look ever.

"But…" Sam trailed off as Carly continued to give her the look that made it so Sam couldn't say no "Ugh! Fine! But you better remember this." Sam pointed an accusing finger at Carly.

"Yay! Thank you!" Carly screamed as she pulled the blonde into a bear hug.

"Put me down or we're not going in." Sam threatened, causing Carly to drop her immediately.

"You know," Sam started "I don't see why you can't just go by yourself."

"Because Freddie needs to know we're both sorry."

"But I'm not sorry. I'd rather just live without him."

"Even if it makes me unhappy?"

"I don't see why you like spending time with him. He's such a nub."

"No he's not! He's sweet and he cares about me and he's nice and he's smart and funny."

Sam chuckled "I love how you stand up for him when he can't hear you."

Carly was about to say something, but then paused "Wait…why are you picking a fight with me? Are you trying to distract me so I forget to go to Freddie's?"

"Oh, that would have been a good plan. But no."

"Then why are you fighting with me? Aww, do you miss fighting with Freddie? Ha! I knew it! You miss him too!"

"No I don't!"

"Yes you do." Carly said with a smirk as she crossed her arms.

"I don't."

"Do."

"DON'T!"

Carly unlocked her arms and put them up as she let it go "Fine, you don't miss him. But you're helping me get him back. Come on, we've been standing in the hall long enough" Carly said as she turned to face Freddie's door. She lightly knocked three times.

"Oh, and Sam?" Carly whispered as she halfway turned around to face her blonde friend.

"What?" Sam almost growled.

"Do." Carly smiled as she faced the door once again.

Sam was about to scream she didn't miss Freddie, but the door opened.

Mrs. Benson stood there, arms crossed, a grimace on her face.

"Um, hi Mrs. Benson. Uh, is Freddie home?"

"Yes."

"Great." Carly said as she moved to make a step forward.

"Just what do you think you're doing?" the woman snapped.

"Um, going to see Freddie. You said he was home."

"Did I say you could talk to him?"

"Um…no."

"Did I say you could see him."

"Um…no."

"Quit 'um'ing!"

"Well you're making me nervous!" Carly screeched back.

"Yeah, well, you made my little Fredward mad."

"Which is why I want to talk to him and apologize. So he _won't_ be mad."

"You really think a little apology will fix what you said?"

"_I_ didn't say anything."

"Exactly! You didn't defend my poor baby from that monster!" Mrs. Benson yelled as she looked at the girl standing beside Carly.

"Watch it lady!" Sam jumped into the conversation.

"You talked about Freddie's father. The only person I'm _watching_ is my hurting son."

Sam didn't say anything. She wasn't used to Mrs. Benson responding to her threats or insults.

"Mrs. Benson, can we please talk to Freddie? Sam's sorry she talked about Freddie's dad." Carly said.

"Am no-" Sam started but was cut off as Carly put her hand over the blonde's mouth.

"Please. I mean, it's not like we're going to tell Freddie it was his fault that his dad killed himself." Carly them removed her hand from Sam.

Mrs. Benson cringed at the last few words "You better not tell him it's his fault! It was that stupid…you know what, never mind."

"The stupid what?" Carly questioned.

"Freddie never told you?" Mrs. Benson asked in disbelief.

"Told us what?"

"What happened with my husband."

"No…we only found out yesterday that his dad killed himself. He never liked to talk about his dad."

"I wouldn't either! My poor baby. He never even…never even." Mrs. Benson stopped talking as she brought a hand to her mouth.

"Uh, it's okay Mrs. Benson.' Carly comforted. It was silent in the hall for a moment.

"Would _you_ tell us what happened?" Sam suddenly questioned, making Carly turn to her and give her a look that screamed 'Why did you just ask that!?'

The woman eyed the two girls in front of her, not speaking. After a few moments, she sighed "Alright. I suppose you deserve to know why Freddie is so upset. But you're not talking to him if I let you in."

"That's fine." Carly said, you could hear the disappointment in her voice, but she figured understanding the problem more might help Freddie forgive them.

"Then come on in."

Both girls looked at each other quickly, then with hesitation, stepped inside the Benson loft.

* * *

**Hmmmm, I wonder why Freddie's dad killed himself. Well, I don't but you do :)**

**Thanks for all the reviews guys. They keep me going. I really appreciate you taking the time to review and make my day. I love hearing what you're thinking :D**

**I'll get the next chapter up as soon as my homework load lightens. My teachers are really piling it on this trimester.**

**P.S.-FF screwed up my document when I uploaded it, so if something doesn't make sense, let me know and I'll come in and fix it :)**


	4. The Bensons' Backstory

**Do homework, or post a new chapter? Homework? New chapter? I should probably do the homework…but I'm gonna write a new chapter anyway!**

* * *

"Then come on in." Mrs. Benson said coldly as she stepped into her insanely clean apartment.

Neither Sam nor Carly spoke one word as they were led to the Benson living room. Carly wasn't speaking because she thought given the situation, it was appropriate to be quiet. Sam wasn't speaking because the amount of jokes forming in her mind were so overwhelming, it just wasn't possible to spit them all out at once.

The three entered the living room, and Mrs. Benson motioned for the girls to sit on the couch wrapped in plastic.

Carly and Sam looked at each other before hesitantly before slowly resting on the uncomfortable sofa.

As Mrs. Benson made herself comfortable in a nearby chair, Sam leaned in close to Carly and whispered "Man, and I thought the fact that Crazy shampooed the carpets twice a week was nuts. And she's putting plastic on couches too? That's like-"

"I'm sorry. What was that Samantha? If it's important enough for Carly to hear, then it must be important enough for me to hear too. Unless you'd like to go into the hallway and not hear what happened."

Sam cocked an annoyed eyebrow "You mean I don't have to listen to a sob story that probably involves a cleaning accident gone wrong? Why am I still here?" Sam then stood up eagerly, and made a move to exit.

"Sit down!" Carly whispered loudly as she gripped Sam's shirt and tugged her downward.

Sam plopped onto the couch, and then whispered "Well, she was acting like a teacher! And when you add teacher to Mrs. Benson, you get pure hate. What was I supposed to do?"

"This is important! Stop being your normal 'insult everything that I find stupid' self, and listen." Carly scolded, and then faced Mrs. Benson. And then with a heavy sigh, Sam followed her friend.

The room fell awkwardly silent.

"So um, how…how did…it happen?" Carly asked slowly.

The woman didn't respond.

"Uh, Mrs. Benson?"

Freddie's mom sucked in a breath, and then began to talk "I was nineteen when I first saw Nathan. We instantly clicked. He asked me out a week after we met, and we were the perfect couple. And even when I went to nurse school and he was going to law school, he came to see me everyday. And each of those days, he would bring me one flower. I never found out why. Every time I asked, he just said 'Why shouldn't I?'

"I still remember the day I realized I loved him. It was August 22, and for the first time, he was unable to come and see me. So when I got home from classes that day, just as I was about to open my door, I saw a small piece of paper sticking out from beneath the door. It said 'Sorry my Rissa. No flower today. Hopefully my love for you will suffice. You'll always be mine, Nathan.'.

"And then when I was twenty two, Nathan proposed to me. I of course said yes. And at the time, neither of us had a ton of money, so we just had a small wedding in my parents' backyard. But that was all I needed because I was marrying Nathan, and we'd be together forever.

"Then when I was finished with my first few years of nurse school, Nathan and I decided to start a family. We both had a starting job in the careers we wanted, and we were making enough money by then to keep a steady home.

"But after a few months of trying, Nathan and I realized we were having trouble conceiving a child. So we went to a doctor to see what the problem might be. And we were told that we wouldn't be able to have a child of our own. I'd lost all hope. Nathan was the only thing that kept me going. We were considering adoption, but we both knew that adoption is a process that takes years. But we started saving to pay for going through the process of adoption anyway. We wanted a child more than anything.

"Wait, is Freddie adopted?" Carly suddenly cut in. Both Carly and Sam had actually been listening with interest.

Mrs. Benson smiled, she didn't seem to be as mad at Sam and Carly as she'd been a few minutes ago "Just let me tell the story. About a month after Nathan and I were told we couldn't conceive, I went to the doctor because I wasn't feeling well. I was showing the symptoms of a woman who was early in her pregnancy, but I didn't think that's what it was because I was told it was impossible for me to become pregnant.

"Well, after a couple tests, it turns out, against all the extreme odds, I had indeed become pregnant. Nathan and I were ecstatic. And we took the money we'd saved when we thought we'd have to adopt, and we bought a small place just outside Seattle that was close to the hospital, so when Freddie was born, we'd be able to get him to the hospital very quickly."

The woman paused to wipe a tear from her eye. Carly figured the horrible part was coming soon. But what didn't make sense to her, was if Nathan and Marissa were such a happy couple, why would he want to kill himself? Carly took a quick glance at Sam, she was staring at Mrs. Benson with great concentration. Sam was actually interested in the story. This surprised Carly, but she didn't say anything. She just tuned back in to listen to Freddie's mother tell her tale.

"Well, as the nine months I was pregnant went by, we slowly filled the house with things that would help us raise Freddie. And then, it was time for Freddie to be born.

"Nathan took me to the hospital. And then, just as Freddie was about to be born, the doctors realized there was a complication. Something had happened with Freddie, and I had to have an immediate sea section. Nathan had to be sent to the waiting room while I was operated on. But before he left, he said 'I love you Rissa. I'll see you as soon as this is over.' he smiled, and then kissed my hand." Mrs. Benson stopped for a second. Breathing deep before she continued "And that was the last time I ever saw him."

Tears began to fall from Mrs. Benson's eyes.

Sam and Carly looked at each other, not knowing what to do. Neither of them had ever seen her in the situation. They also didn't know if they story was over or not. They hoped not because they still hadn't found out how Mr. Benson had died. But they certainly weren't going to ask, because Mrs. Benson was obviously upset.

The crying woman suddenly sucked in a hard breath, trying to stop her tears "I'm sorry, it's just-"

Carly cut her off "There is no reason to be sorry Mrs. Benson."

Freddie's mother smiled at Carly "Well um…back to the…story." Mrs. Benson kept stopping as she sniffled "Um…when I was in surgery-" she stopped to sniff again.

"Did something happen to you or Freddie?" Sam blurted out in the pause, you could hear slight worry in her voice. But just as she said it, she switched back to her 'not caring, just listening' face.

"No, Freddie and I were fine." Mrs. Benson responded "But Nathan didn't know that. Apparently, some other woman in the hospital named Marissa, was going through a sea section just like I was. And she and her baby died in the operation. So the other woman's doctor told this new intern, her name was Kate Gillman, to tell Marissa's husband that his wife and baby had died. But when Kate was getting the paperwork, she accidentally grabbed mine, and told Nathan, that Freddie and I were the one's who had died."

Mrs. Benson stopped once again to let out the tears stinging her eyes, but she continued through her cries anyway "When Freddie and I had come out of surgery, Kate called me Marissa Brunette, and that's when we realized she'd messed up the paperwork. So when she went to tell Nathan that both Freddie and I were alive, she found out he wasn't in the waiting room. So I called his cell phone, and he didn't pick up." Mrs. Benson was beginning to really struggle. She was talking through sobs now, and wiping her eyes every few seconds "I kept calling, every place I knew he might have gone, and either no one knew, or no one picked up. So the intern who'd messed up offered to go check at our house to see if he was there and not picking up.

"She was gone for about a half hour. And when she came back, she was crying. And Kate said that when she got to the apartment, the door was slightly open. She said she walked inside, and she found a small note. One sentence on it. And in the next room, she found that Nathan had hung himself.

"The only thing the note said was 'Life isn't worth living if my Rissa and Freddie aren't there to live it with me."

Mrs. Benson then completely broke down. Carly was teary eyed too. Even Sam's eyes were slightly wet.

"Does Freddie know?" Carly asked with sympathy.

Mrs. Benson nodded "And it's even worse because he thinks it's his fault. He says that if he would have just 'been born right', that he would still have his dad. But it's not his fault. It's not."

But suddenly everything made sense. Freddie had never been a really happy person on his birthday, He wouldn't cry or anything, but he always seemed sad. And Mrs. Benson was such a protective mother because she didn't want to lose Freddie like she'd lost her husband.

"I'm so sorry." Carly said.

"It's not your fault. I just wish Freddie knew it wasn't his fault either."

The room was filled with silence.

Mrs. Benson was the first to speak, choking back her tears "I think you girls should leave now. I have to sanitize the shoes. I haven't done it in two weeks so who knows how many germs are there."

Sam was in such deep thought over the story she'd just heard, she didn't even comment on the excuse Mrs. Benson used to get her and Carly out of there.

"Okay." Carly said as she and Sam rose "Goodbye."

Mrs. Benson said nothing as the two girls left.

Carly shut the door behind her and Sam.

"I feel so bad for Freddie and his mom." Carly whispered.

Sam said nothing to this. Because she didn't want to spit a nasty comment after what she'd just heard. Nor did she want to admit that she too felt bad for 'the nub'…

* * *

**Wow, that chapter was hard for me to write. It was really hard to write the characters in this situation. Not so sure how it came out, but hopefully it's good. Please review :)**


	5. Master Of Trickery

Carly and Sam were sitting on the Shay couch watching Totally Terri. They hadn't spoken much since they'd heard about Freddie's dad.

The blonde brought a piece of popcorn to her mouth. She'd been nibbling on it numbly for the past half hour. The fact that there was still a half a bowl left of the food showed how deep she was thinking. Normally Sam would have it down in five minutes.

"Why hidee hello children!" Spencer shouted energetically as he skipped into the quiet living room.

He didn't even get a mumble as a response, but he ignored it as he asked "Why are you guys watching Totally Terri? I thought you hated that show."

Spencer was once again met with silence as the two girls were silent.

"Um, Carly? You there?" the man asked as he waved his hand in front of his little sister's face. Nothing "Sam? Hello?" she just continued to nibble on popcorn.

"Earth to iCarly hosts." when the room stayed quiet, Spencer pulled the bowl filled with popcorn away from Sam's reach in attempt to get her attention.

But she didn't notice, she just reached down and brought the remote to her mouth, trying to take a bite out of the hard plastic.

Spencer rolled his eyes "CARLY AND SAM!"

"Meh." Carly mumbled lightly, barley coming out of her trance.

Spencer thought for a second "Look! Male models with British accents holding Bolivian bacon!"

Both girls suddenly yelled in synchronization "What!? Where!?"

In the midst of looking around frantically, Sam's eyes landed on the TV, and she turned to Carly "Eww gross, why did you change the channel to Totally Terri?"

Carly didn't answer, she just asked "Why are you trying to eat my remote?"

Sam looked and saw that she indeed had the remote very close to her mouth, and there was a bit of drool on its corner. She was about to say something, but then her attention fell on the man standing by the couch "Hey, you lied! There's no male models with British accents that have Bolivian bacon!"

"Well, nothing else was working to get you two daydreamers to snap out of it. Is there a new guy who's 'dreamy' at school or something?" Spencer exaggerated the word dreamy for affect.

"Um, not exactly." Carly said awkwardly.

"Then what's up?" but Spencer didn't give either girl time to answer before he suddenly asked "Hey, where's Freddie? I haven't seen him since he came over the other day."

Carly and Sam both looked at each other. Spencer hadn't been there the day of the fight, and both girls had agreed not to tell Spencer what had happened since they thought they could fix it quickly.

"Oh, Freddie's-" Sam started but was cut off when Carly gave her a warning look and a stern 'Sam'.

"I got this." Sam whispered to her paranoid friend. Then, turning to face Spencer, she said "Freddie's basically in quarantine this week. He got a cough so Mrs. Benson is only letting him go to school wearing a mask, and not letting him out any other time."

Carly thanked God at that moment for Sam's great lying skills.

"Ah," Spencer began "Makes sense. Mrs. Benson is a nutter sometimes isn't she?"

"She has every right to be!" screamed Sam unexpectedly.

"What?" Spencer asked, not believing what he'd just heard.

Then Sam, realizing her mistake, calmly said "I mean, yeah. What a psycho." she laughed nervously.

Spencer eyed the two girls skeptically "Are you alright? How hot is this new kid?"

Carly took over now, and said dreamily "You don't even _know_."

"Well, I would hope I wouldn't know since I don't find men attractive."

"But what about that one time when-"

"Hey!" Spencer yelled, stopping Carly mid-sentence "In my defense, it was dark, and he was a very pretty guy!"

Carly and Sam stifled laughs, both glad Spencer wasn't asking about Freddie anymore.

"Well," Carly started "while you relive one of the most horrifying nights of your life, me and Sam are going to go upstairs."

"They should have more light in Galini's at night!" Spencer yelled as Carly and Sam entered the elevator.

As soon as the elevator doors closed, Sam immediately asked "What happened?"

"Okay, Spencer had this late night craving for pie, so…"

* * *

Even with Sam keeping Freddie off her mind until midnight last night, by morning he had crept back into Carly's head.

"Morning Spencer." Carly greeted her brother as she jumped off the last step. She wasn't going to give off any more clues like yesterday that she and Sam were having troubles with Freddie.

"Hey Carls, where's Sam?" Spencer asked as he placed a plate of toast on the counter.

"She's-"

"Sammo be up and she wants ham!" was heard from the top of the stairs.

"Right there." Carly finished the sentence she'd started just before Sam started yelling and sat down at the counter.

As the blonde bounded down the stairs, Spencer said "You want ham? It's seven in the morning."

"What's your point?" Sam questioned while she plopped down next to her best friend.

"Well, it's just ham isn't really a breakfast…" he trailed off as Sam's stare on him grew darker "I'll get the ham!" Spencer suddenly yelled like a superhero "To the fridge!" then he mumbled some form of theme music as he went to retrieve the ham.

"We have him trained so well." Carly laughed.

"Yeah…"

"What's up?" Carly questioned due to the tone of Sam's response.

"Just Freddie." Sam mumbled.

Carly smirked "Awww, is Sammie worried about our little Freddie?"

Sam immediately started defending herself "What!? No! I don't care about him. I just…care about you…and uh, he is worrying _you_, so I'm worried _for_ you because of him. So I want to fix the problem so you're happy again. Yeah, that's it." Sam smiled awkwardly.

Carly eyed her friend skeptically "That's it huh?"

Sam laughed nervously "Psh, yeah. I don't miss him at all…_at all_."

"Really?" Carly wasn't convinced "So you don't miss _anything_?"

"Nope."

"Remember that time when Freddie got me a rose on Valentines Day, so just to be mean you ripped it out of his hands and smashed it?"

Sam laughed "Yeah, the thorns cut up his hands, and his face was _priceless_." Sam sighed with a smile "I miss making fun of the nub." Sam just sat back peacefully.

Carly just watched her for a couple seconds.

Then, Sam's face went to pure horror "I mean- I-I didn't mean that- I-" Sam stumbled over her words as she tried to reword what she'd just admitted.

"You know what Sam, it's your problem. If you don't want to openly admit that you miss Freddie and love making fun of him, that's fine by me." Carly smiled.

Sam was about to argue back, but that was when Spencer returned "Whatcha girls talking about?"

Carly turned to face her brother "How well we have you trained."

"I'm not trained!" Spencer yelled. Then turning to Sam, he placed a plate of cut up ham in front of her "Here you go. All cut up nice for my favorite guest."

Sam picked a piece of ham up and began to eat it.

"You're not trained huh?" Carly asked.

"No. I am not."

"Sam, is it hot in here?"

"Oh, I'll turn down the heat."

Carly and Sam giggled.

As Spencer returned, he saw the laughing girls and realized what had just happened "I only turned down the heat because I was hot too."

Carly picked up a piece of toast that was left on the counter "Whatever you say." she then took a bite.

"I-but-"

Sam cut Spencer off "It's alright Spence. She's the master of trickery this morning. She's getting everyone to say things they _don't mean_." Sam stressed the last part as she glared at Carly, who just smiled back proudly.

"What did she get you to say?" Spencer asked Sam.

"That's not important because it's _not_ true."

"If it doesn't matter why can't you tell me?"

"Wow, we already have to leave for school." Sam said as she headed for the door.

"Geeze. Since when is Sam eager to get to school?" Spencer asked.

"Since I became the master of making people admit things." Carly smiled as she followed her friend to the door.

"What did you get her to say?" Spencer called as he traced his sister's steps to the door.

The three were all standing in front of the door now, both girls holding their school bags.

Neither girl answered Spencer's question, as it fell under the category of Freddie being mad at them and they vowed to keep that secret.

Sam opened the door, but was stopped by Spencer's hand on her shoulder "Will _you_ tell me?"

The blonde suddenly looked into the hall and gasped dramatically "Is that Nug Nug from Galaxy Wars!?"

"What!? Where!?" Spencer yelled as he ran out the door frantically.

The brunette looked at her friend "We've got to sort this Freddie thing out soon. Spencer is going to get us to spill soon enough."

Sam thought for a second "I know you don't want Spencer to know, but how come?"

"I know it's stupid, but I don't want him to worry if he doesn't have to. We can fix this so making him freak will just be a waste of time."

Sam nodded.

Spencer then returned "You lied to me. There was no Nug Nug."

"Yeah well, we have to get to school. So if you could take us that'd be great." Carly said.

Spencer eyed the girls "You're acting awfully suspicious."

Carly and Sam just looked at Spencer like he was crazy, even though he was right.

The man leaned in close to the his sister and her best friend, and whispered "I'm watching you."

He then turned around and walked straight into the wall.

"You might want to watch where you're going first." Sam chuckled as they both stepped over Spencer and out the door.

* * *

**I dedicate this chapter to Mistress of Craziness. I haven't wanted to write for this story since the last update, but your unexpected review suddenly gave me a kick of inspiration to continue writing :) This goes to show that reviews make me want to write. So if I get a decent amount of reviews, I promise to get you guys a new chapter sooner than I did for this one ;)**


	6. It's Frog's Butt!

**Thanks for all the reviews so far everyone! I REALLY appreciate it :D And I'm glad you all liked chapter five. I just wanted to have a lighthearted chapter after all the mostly serious ones. Too much drama. Anyways, as a thanks for all the reviews for chapter five too, here is the update I promised :)**

* * *

Sam and Carly slowly walked into the Ridgeway building, laughing lightly.

"Oh, that reminds me." Sam started after Carly finished her story "This one time, my mom was tired of me whining about my need for some fried chicken, so she took me to BF Wings. Okay, and after we got our food, we sat down by this group of old people. And there was this one lady and you won't believe what she said. Guess." Sam paused, waiting for Carly to respond, but no answer came "Carly?" the blonde asked as she looked at her friend.

Carly was looking off in the distance at something, or better, someone.

Sam sighed, forgetting about finishing her story, and said "Go talk to him, you know you want to bring that device of torture back into our lives."

Carly's head snapped over to Sam "It's stuff like that that made him leave Sam."

"No, it's me talking about his dad that made him leave. We both know he liked me picking on him. He told me himself that it would be too weird if I didn't make his life miserable."

"Well maybe if you didn't pick on him so much, he wouldn't have quit being our friends when you brought up his dad. You were the one who wasn't smart enough to keep your stupid mouth shut." Carly was practically yelling.

Sam was a little surprised at Carly's words, but continued anyway "Whoa whoa whoa, we're mad at Freddie not me. Remember?"

"We're not mad at anyone. We're trying to get Freddie back."

"Then why are you yelling at me if no one is mad?"

"Because I'm frustrated!" Carly screeched "It's been days and we can't get Freddie back."

"Carls, it's only been barely three days."

"Well it feels a heck of a-lot longer." Carly's voice was rising again.

"I know." Sam said somewhat sadly.

"You know?" Carly questioned with confusion "I thought you didn't miss him. Oh my God! You do don't you?"

Sam quickly covered for her mistake "No! I _meant_ it like I know it feels longer because you've been whining the whole time. It's killing me. Enjoy your time without the nub." Sam's quick thinking led Carly to believe.

"Hey! I don't whine…_all_ the time."

Sam smiled "Okay, we've been talking too long. Go beg for his forgiveness before he goes to class." Sam gave her friend a light shove in Freddie's direction.

Carly nodded confidently to Sam, then made her way to the brown haired boy.

She reached his locker and paused, not knowing what to say.

"Um…hey Freddie." she said shyly.

But unlike yesterday, he didn't give any acknowledgement she was there.

So Carly tried again "Can we please talk about this?"

Freddie moved his eyes up to the girl "If you want to talk about things I don't, why don't you just ask my mom."

The memory from last night crashed into Carly's thoughts "I'm so sorry about your dad. And so is Sam."

"If Sam's so sorry about it, why isn't _she_ here apologizing?"

Carly's voice box seemed to malfunction.

"Exactly." Freddie turned to leave but Carly stopped him by grabbing his shoulder.

"Can you give us another chance?"

"I don't think I can."

"Please, for me?" Carly pulled out an old trick, hoping against hope that it would work.

"Look Carly, you can't use that on me. We talked about this. You know I don't have a crush on you anymore." After Carly and Freddie broke up and waited for Freddie's casts to come off, they'd both discovered their true feelings for each other. Freddie found little connection each time they'd kissed, and Carly did only like Freddie because he saved her life.

"Well, them can you do it for our years of friendship? If you come back I promise to stand up for you more and make Sam back down."

"Carly, even if you did make that happen, everything would go back to usual anyway. After a couple weeks or months, you'd forget and Sam would fire up again, and I'd be treated horrible."

"But Freddie-"

The warning bell suddenly rang, cutting Carly off.

"I have to get to class." Freddie said emotionlessly as he left, leaving Carly in shock that he was still upset and refused to go back to being her friend.

* * *

"It's frog's butt!" Carly yelled angrily as she sat down next to Sam at lunch.

"I like seeing you go all psycho. It's so rare." Sam smirked.

"Well, Freddie acts like he's the only one who's gone through chiz with his parents! Sure he lost his dad which sucks, but your dad's not here either! And _both_ my parents are overseas, so I hardly get to talk to them more than once a month! And they could both die at any second! At least he knows his mom is safe!"

"Relax Carls."

"No! He needs to man up and stop being a wuss when people bring up his dad."

"I know you don't mean that."

Carly gave Sam a stern, upset look, before she went soft "I know too. I'm just mad. Why won't he forgive us? Everyone makes mistakes."

"Because he's a nub Carl. And that's what nubs do."

"Would you stop insulting him!? That's part of the problem."

"Carly, it'll be okay."

"But what if it isn't Sam? What if he never forgives us? He's one of the most important people in my life. I can't just pretend he no longer exists." As Carly said this, she glanced across the cafeteria at Freddie who had switched to Gibby's table.

"We can fix this."

"But what if we can't?"

"No." Sam said firmly "I mean we _can_ fix this."

"What?" Carly questioned.

Sam smirked evilly "I have an idea."

Carly grew excited "Well spill it!"

* * *

**Oooooooooh, looks like the girls are gonna hatch a plan to get the Fredster back :D**

**Oh, and I have a confirmed source about where I got Carly's parents' information. On the Nickelodeon site under About The Show in the iCarly section, it was said that Carly and Spencer's parents were overseas. But for Sam's dad, I just guessed. Although I'm pretty sure Freddie's dad is dead since it's _Mrs._ Benson and there is no husband...**


	7. PGCBASVB

**Okay, I know it's been a while since I updated, but hopefully this long chapter will make up for it :D**

* * *

"Happy Saturday Carly." Sam called as she strode into the Shay apartment.

"Sam!" Carly squealed as she jumped up from the couch and gripped Sam in a death hug "Are you ready?"

"Air-" Sam struggled through constricted breath.

"Oh, sorry." Carly apologized as she dropped the blonde "So, are you ready?"

Sam was confused "Ready for what?"

Carly's eyes grew wide "You don't remember?"

"If I remembered, why would I be asking you what you're talking about?"

"It's Saturday, you know, the day of P.G.C.B.A.S.V.B."

"Oh, right. Plan get Carly's buddy and Sam's victim back."

Carly immediately shushed Sam "We made up the code so Spencer wouldn't know."

"So I wouldn't know what?" Spencer suddenly asked as he came into the living room and wandering over to the girls.

"Oh, well…you see…it's just- your birthday. Yeah. Can't know about your birthday." Carly laughed nervously. But she wasn't about to tell Spencer about Freddie now. She and Sam were just about to get him back.

"My birthday still isn't for a few months though." Spencer said, confusion coating his tone.

"Never hurts to plan early Spence." Carly said this as she playfully punched her brother.

Spencer, despite the light hit, rubbed his arm as if he were in pain "You don't have to hit people Carly."

The brunette eyed her brother like he was nuts "I barely touched you."

"Yeah well your bony knuckles hurt."

"What?" Carly asked slowly with edge.

Suddenly, Sam cut in agitated "Ugh! Will you two just shut up!?" the blonde then turned to Carly "We have a _thing _to get to."

"What thing?" Spencer asked.

"Your birthday thing." Sam snapped, sick of the man's curiosity.

Spencer smiled as if he'd just gotten something "Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight." he winked.

The two girls eyed him "Okay, well, we'll see you later." Carly quickly said, knowing the seconds were ticking by.

"Have fun getting my _present_!" Spencer squealed, getting another look from his sister and her friend. Then, dramatically lowering his voice, he said "I mean, have fun getting my present."

Sam and Carly sniggered "Okay, we'll" Sam mocked Spencer and lowered her voice "have fun getting your present."

Spencer glared as the two girls chuckling, before whipping around and storming off to the kitchen.

"Is he really mad?" Sam laughed.

Carly shook her head "Nah, he just likes being a drama king."

"Kay, let's go then."

As the two girls left the apartment, Sam questioned "Where are we supposed to meet Gibby?"

Carly thought for a second "The Cheesecake Warehouse. It's right by the carnival."

"Man, that's like three blocks away." Sam whined as the duo entered the lobby.

"Oh, you'll run four miles after Mr. Howard's egged car because you still have one egg left, but you won't walk three blocks to get Freddie back?"

"HEY!" screeched Lewbert randomly "No talking about food in my LOBBY!"

"What _can_ we do in your lobby?" Sam snapped the question.

"GET OUT OF IT!!!!!" yelled the man.

Carly and Sam rolled their eyes at Lewbert, and on the way out, Sam purposely knocked over a flower pot on the coffee table, spilling dirt all over the floor.

"Oops."

Lewbert screamed out and attempted to leap over his desk, but failed while the girls walked out the door.

* * *

"Here we are." Carly said through a strained breath.

"Why are you so tired?" Sam questioned.

Carly basically growled "Because I carried you on my back for two blocks. Speaking of which, get off!" Carly let Sam go and Sam fell to the ground.

"What the chiz Carls!? You didn't have to _drop_ me! And you said you'd carry me anyway!"

"Let's just get inside."

"You know," Sam started, stopping to stand up "I still don't know how I convinced you to do that."

"Me neither." Carly said, still on edge. But Carly's eyes then moved to Sam who was smirking. The anger melted from Carly instantly as she smiled back.

"I'll never know how you do that." Carly laughed.

"Do what?"

"You give me that smile thing, and I'm instantly not mad anymore."

"Mamma has got her ways."

The two besties were laughing as they walked onto the Cheesecake Warehouse.

"You see Gibby?" Carly asked as she scanned the restaurant.

"Yeah, he's over there." Sam answered as she pointed out the chubby boy sitting at a table in the corner.

Both girls wandered over "Hey Gibby." Carly smiled.

"Why Carly! Sam!" Gibby said cheerfully "Fancy meeting you here. It's so out of the blue."

Sam shot a snotty look at Gibby "Out of the blue? We planned this. It's smack dab in the middle of the blue!"

Carly gave Sam the look that told her to stop.

"Thanks Gibby. We really appreciate this." he nodded "Mind if we sit while we go over the plan one more time."

"Sure, sit."

Carly and Sam sat down, and Carly pulled out a couple papers before she began to speak to Gibby again "Okay, we all know the carnival is in town this weekend." she pulled out the flier for the carnival out of her small stack of papers "And it has the house of mirrors." Carly grabbed another paper that listed the things the carnival featured "Freddie will be here soon, and when he does, you will take him to the carnival a block away, while Sam and I follow you there. Then, you'll get Freddie in the house of mirrors." Carly snatched another paper that was a map of the carnival and pointed out the selected destination "Once you have him in there, lead him to the center of the house." the brunette then grabbed a map of the house of mirrors. "You keep this so you can find the middle."

"Why do I need a map?" Gibby suddenly cut in.

"Because it's kind of like a maze in there."

"Oh, I thought it was just a path of a bunch of mirrors."

"Yeah, but they made it maze like to make it more fun. So I outlined the path you should take to the middle."

"Won't Freddie wonder why I have a map?"

"Then memorize the path!" Carly yelled out in frustration.

Gibby recoiled in his seat while Sam smirked.

"Gibbs, just let her finish the plan." Sam winked at the boy as he sat back up.

"Thank you Sam." Carly started "Anyway, when you have Freddie in the middle of the house, Sam and I will be waiting for you there. And while you restrain Freddie, Sam and I will block the exits so he can't escape. Once we do that, Sam and I will have a chance to talk to him without his mom, a teacher, or the stupid warning bell to interrupt. And Sam will also be apologizing here."

"That's the part of the plan I hate. Carly threw that in after rejecting what I thought I should do to him." Sam said.

"What did you want to do?" Gibby asked.

"Tape him to a chair and beat him up until he stopped being a baby and was our friend again."

"There's a reason I changed that." Carly said, eyeing Sam "But back to the plan. After Sam _says sorry_, Freddie, being the guy I know he is, will forgive us and we will be all happy again."

"Alright, got it." Gibby smiled, but then his grin shifted quickly to a frown.

"What up Gibson?" Sam asked.

"Freddie's here!" he whispered loudly "Hide!"

Carly quickly gathered her papers as Sam pulled her under the table. And just as Carly and Sam were making sure the table cloth was hiding them, Freddie came over.

"Ready to go Gibby?" Freddie asked nicely.

"Yes. Yes I am." Gibby said stiffly as he rose from his seat.

"The carnival is- Whoa!" as Freddie went to leave, he had run into a waiter carrying a plate of ice-cream, knocking it to the floor.

Sam, on instinct, made a move hastily to get the ice-cream before her five seconds were up. Carly immediately jerked her back in order to keep in hiding.

"Sorry about that." Freddie apologized as he helped the waiter clean up quickly. The man just gave him a dirty look, and went back to the kitchen.

"Um, anyway, as I was saying before I hit him, the carnival's just a block away right?"

Gibby nodded as he led Freddie out the door.

"Okay, let's go." Carly gave the all clear.

"Why didn't you let me get the ice-cream?" Sam whined.

"Because it would have blown our cover."

"But I totally would have made the five second rule!"

Carly rolled her eyes "Come on, we have to get in the house of mirrors before Gibby and Freddie." Carly urged, pushing Sam to the exit.

"But the ice-cream!" Sam cried as she was shoved out of the restaurant.

* * *

"What now?" Freddie asked excitedly.

"Well, since you only have one ticket left, how 'bout we do the one thing I wanted to do and go in the house of mirrors."

"Oooh! A fortune teller!" Freddie yelled and dragged Gibby to the table with the woman dressed in colorful robes.

"No Freddie! The house of-" Gibby cut off as Freddie handed his last ticket to the fortune teller.

"Mirrors." Gibby sighed.

"Aaaah, another young one." the psychic said mystically "I see though that you have disappointed your friend by choosing me."

"Wow, you're good." Freddie smiled, amazed.

"No dear, your friend is just standing over there sad."

Freddie's smile faded slightly.

"Alright Freddie-"

"Whoa! How do you know my name?"

"It's called being psychic hun."

Freddie nodded as if it were obvious.

"Now, let's start." the woman hit a timer on her desk that was set for three minutes "I am Aleighyah. Now give me your hand."

Freddie immediately jerked his hand out. He'd loved psychics since he was young, amazed by their power that was unexplained by science.

Aleighyah reached out and grabbed the boy's hand and closed her eyes "Hmmmm…I sense anger over something very strong…ah, a death. I'm sorry for the loss of your father."

Despite the mention of his dad, Freddie didn't get too upset because he was blown away at how accurate Aleighyah was. And she didn't mention him in a negative way either.

"I also sense some other anger…you are mad at your friends…Sam and Katie-no, Carly. Alright, now that I have established your inner self, I will tell you your future. Hmmmm…I see the anger leaving you in a short amount of time…and being replaced with love. But not the love of friendship."

"Who is it? Is it Bryanna Toothe? Or Jessica Palm? Oooh! Is it Nina Moore?"

"Shush boy, I cannot concentrate with your babbling."

Freddie immediately shut up.

"Ah, that's better. Now this girl…her picture is coming to mind…but it is very blurry. All I can make out is blonde hair."

Freddie cut in again "Leslie Tormain!? No way, she's so hot. I can't bel-"

"It's not Leslie! It is someone you aren't sure you like or not. Hang on…her name is coming to mind…her name is…"

Suddenly, the timer went off, signaling Freddie's three minutes were up.

"Oh, and I almost had her name. If you want to know, you can give me another ticket…oh, you haven't one. I'm sorry. It was a pleasure doing business with you though Freddie."

"No wait-"

"Next!" shouted Aleighyah while a girl who'd come up while Freddie was being read stepped forward.

Gibby, who stood there listening the whole time, dragged Freddie away.

"Where are we going?" Freddie asked.

"To the future!"

"What?"

Gibby sighed "Never mind. We're going to the house of mirrors."

"But I'm out of tickets."

"I'm not."

"Dude! Then let's go back there! I could find the girl of my dreams!"

"No! I want to go to the house of mirrors."

Freddie stopped protesting, and just walked next to Gibby "Why do you want to go in here anyway? It's just a bunch of stupid mirrors."

Gibby thought on his feet "In movies they always have that mirror that makes the good looking guys look ugly, and the ugly guys look good. I want to see what I'd look like if I was ugly."

Freddie eyed Gibby for a second, but then kept walking until the pair reached the house of mirrors.

"Ticket please." said the ticket taker at the door.

Gibby pulled out his last two tickets to pay for himself and Freddie, and then walked in, Freddie behind him.

"Wow!" Gibby said in the amazement as he walked into the house. There were mirrors covering the place top to bottom. They were distorting reflections, and were put in an order that was confusing to go through.

They both walked in a couple feet, and Gibby stopped in front of a certain mirror "Whoa, I'm ugly in this one dude! Check it out!"

Freddie walked up behind Gibby "That's a normal mirror Gibs."

The smiled wiped from Gibby's face "Uh…oh, there's something in my eye." Gibby rubbed his eye "Yup. Now I see my true handsomeness. The thing in my eye must have messed up my vision there."

"Right."

Freddie and Gibby continued through the house for a little while longer, and with Gibby sneaking peaks at him map, he was successfully leading Freddie to the middle.

Abruptly, Freddie stopped "Hey, we made it to the center of the house. That's weird. I never get to the middle. It's like there's no gravitational pull leading me here." Freddie began to laugh, while Gibby just looked at him.

Gibby noticed the reflection of Sam in a mirror from the opposite entrance he and Freddie had just come from, and he knew it was time.

"I'm sorry Freddie."

"For what?"

Gibby looked at Freddie, and then screamed "NOW!" as he ripped his shirt off and grabbed Freddie from behind.

Sam ran across the room and blocked the other exit, while Carly, who had been waiting at the other doorway, stayed there and blocked the other way for Freddie to escape.

"Let me go Gibby!" Freddie shouted, struggling against the grip holding him.

"We just want to talk Freddie." Carly said calmly.

"If you want to talk them let me go!" Freddie yelled, tugging against Gibby's hold once more.

"If we let you go, you'll leave." Sam said.

"I won't!"

"Don't lie to me twiglet!" Sam said as she leered at Freddie from across the medium sized room.

Freddie returned the glare.

"Freddie," Carly spoke now "Please, just listen."

"I don't want to listen to you. I don't care how sorry you are. All the apologies in the world would mean nothing to me. You just want me to come back so your life is how it used to be. You smiling while you listen to Sam insult me and do nothing about it. I don't want to listen to your lies about how you'll change your behavior if Sam is mean to me. And I don't want to hear you say that Sam will change. That means as much to me as if Sam said she's save me a slice of ham. I'm just sick of being treated this way. I deserve better than what I go through with you and Sam."

"But Freddie-"

"I said I don't want to hear it! Words mean nothing without action. And I know that action won't come."

"How do you know she doesn't mean what she says if you don't give her a chance Fredmoron!?"

"Look at you! _Still_ insulting me!" Freddie turned to look at Carly "And you still not sticking up for me."

"You and Sam were-"

"Just stop! How can you just lie to my face? If you were really my friend, you would understand that I want you to go away. And if you were my friend, you'd let me go to make me happy. But you're not. You keep bugging me and lying. I-"

"Me stop!? Why can't you shut up long enough to listen!?" the yelling was Carly this time. But she lowered her voice when she continued "Why don't you get that you are one of the most important people in my life? Yes, friends want other friends to be happy, but you're more than a friend to me. You're my best friend. Like family. And no matter what, you do anything to get family back."

Freddie was quiet for a moment, thinking. His face seemed to soften for a second, but turned back to anger just as quickly "Family doesn't stand by while another family member is tortured, bullied, and tormented."

"Freddie, with how much you guys fought, it was like you didn't even care. Sure, you'd give dirty looks, but them you'd go back to normal like nothing had happened. You guys are just like brother and sister with your bickering. It's who you are. Without Sam and Freddie bickering, nothing would seem normal."

"Of course it wouldn't seem normal! It's all you've ever known because you do nothing to stop it!"

"People make mistakes Freddie! Don't you get that? If you had-"

Carly was cut off as a loud shout was heard from Gibby "Hey! That's my style!!!!"

The shirtless boy let go of Freddie and started yelling at something unknown, giving Freddie his chance to escape.

Freddie ran for it, but not wanting to go toward Carly, he ran for Sam's door. Sam, ignoring Gibby's shouts, wrapped her arms around Freddie from behind as he tried to run past her.

But something unusual happened, Sam felt…something. She knew what it was, but she was frightened to admit it. The shock sent made Sam go off focus, and Freddie slipped out of her grip.

"Just leave me alone!" he screamed as he ran through the maze and out of sight.

Sam sucked in a hard breath, trying to lie to herself about what had just happened, before she turned around to face a yelling Gibby and Carly.

"How could you let him get away!?"

"I thought someone stole my shirtless ways! What's a Gib to do? I couldn't just not do anything."

"You didn't notice the shirtless thief was your reflection!?"

Sam cut in "Hold on. Freddie got away because you saw yourself in a mirror!?" Sam stepped forward, ready to attack.

"Ah! Don't! I'm just a Gibby!"

Sam retracted her fist "Just get out of here! You reward for _almost_ helping me and Carly will be your face not being black and blue."

Gibby whined in fear, and ran out.

It was quiet between Carly and Sam for a second as they sat on the floor in defeat.

Carly was the first to speak "I can't believe he still didn't forgive us."

"I know Carls. Me too. You want to go and see if we can find him?" Sam asked as she put a hand on Carly's shoulder.

Carly pushed the hand off "No. I just want to get out of here. I've had enough today. We can try later."

Carly rose, and Sam followed. Neither girl spoke except for the final goodbyes the entire walk back.

* * *

Sam opened the door to her house. When you added the facts that Sam was in a bad mood with the fact that her mom wasn't home, you got Sam going to her room.

The blonde flopped on her bed and breathed heavily. The days events crept into her mind. One in particular, what she felt when she had held Freddie.

She tried to fight the word she knew was coming. Because if it came, she would have to admit to the impossible.

But despite the strong struggles, it came. That feeling Sam got when she'd held Freddie in her arms. Sparks.

* * *

**Whew. That is the longest chapter I've ever written. And a-lot happened. We saw Carly's angry and desperate side. We saw Freddie at his most unforgiving moment. We saw Sam admit what she never wanted. And we saw Freddie in a good mood for a bit since the beginning of the story.**

**I dedicate this chapter to all my reviewers. I do this because your reviews make this story go, so thank you so much :) But I swear, you guys are psychics just like Aleighyah. I had this chapter all planned out and a few of you guessed exactly what was going to happen. 'an evil plan probably'. Well, her _original_ plan was evil, Carly just rejected inflicting torture on Freddie…which hopefully you are okay with. Also 'I think it would be cool if their plan doesn't exactly goes as "planned"'. Well, you were right also.**

**Now, I blew off my homework to write this for you guys, so give me reviews to make me feel better when my teachers yell at me for not doing it ;D**


	8. Out Of Quarantine

**Hello everyone :) Did it take me a while to update? Yes. Can you forgive me? I really hope so. Um, my grandma was diagnosed with cancer so I just haven't been in the mood to write. But thankfully the doctors caught it early enough that she will be fine. I was just worried about her, so I hope you aren't mad.**

**But I feel like writing again so yay :D**

* * *

Sam's head was buried in her pillow, her blonde curls strewn all around her head in disarray. She was deep in thought and had been for the past hour.

'_Freddie? How can I like…Freddie? He's so nubbish and dorky and…nubbish.' _Sam had been thinking this over and over again. _'It's not possible. Me, Sam Puckett, liking him, Fredward Mamma's Boy Benson. I bet Carly not letting me get that ice-cream has something to do with this. Yeah, that has to be it.' _Sam smiled into the fabric, confident she'd found a reason for the abnormal thoughts. But then her smile faded as she knew her reasoning was…well…as Carly'd put it; frog's butt.

Sam groaned into the pillow as she softly questioned "Why me?" with a whimper.

Then the blonde suddenly sat up, as if frightened "I did _not_ just show weakness because of that overgrown fish loaf gone bad…or, at least worse than normal."

Sam swung her legs over the edge of her bed, and put her head in her hands _'How did this happen to me? A week ago he was my cute friend Fre- Whoa! I did NOT just call him cute. Besides, I act TOTALLY different around guys I like. I usually…' _Sam's train of thought wandered off as she recalled the memory of when she stole Carter's basketball because she liked him. Argo, she picked on guys she liked.

'_Oh God. Why did this happen? When did this happen?' _Sam couldn't stop questioning the reasons. She also was still trying to deny her feelings for Freddie despite the fact she knew they couldn't be more true.

'_I've picked on him ever since I met him, so this _thing_ I have for him must have started then. But how did I not know?' _Sam had an answer for that _'Because I always saw him as the nub who loved Carly, and I never looked at him as…maybe being something more…'_

Sam groaned again _'I can't keep thinking about this! I need to breathe.'_

The blonde rose abruptly and ripped her door open. She snatched her PearPod and cranked the music as to avoid Frederly climbing back into her thoughts once more. She walked out the door and headed for her friend's.

* * *

Sam didn't even knock once she arrived upon the Shay doorstep. She just walked in as if it was her own home.

Carly was stirring a strawberry smoothie with a straw at the counter. She looked a little glum.

"Hey Carls." Sam said gently, not knowing how sensitive Carly still was after the events that had occurred hours ago. She walked over to the counter side opposite Carly.

Carly looked up, still slowly stirring "Hi Sam." she sighed it somewhat sadly, though she plastered a weak smile on her face.

"I know you probably want to be alone, but-"

Carly cut her off "It's okay. It's not your fault Freddie is being so stubborn."

"Yeah, but it _is_ my fault he isn't here right now." Sam sighed.

"It's my fault too. Why didn't I just stick up for him?" she questioned herself.

"Because you knew I would still pick on him and bully him no matter what you said."

The brunette nodded halfheartedly "Yeah, but still."

"Hey, don't beat yourself up about it. It's my fault for picking on him…and partly his fault for being a baby about all this."

"Sam!" Carly scolded as she pulled her straw out of her smoothie and flicked it at the blonde.

"Hey! You got smoothie juice on me!" Sam lightly laughed, wiping her face and licking the smoothie off "Mmmm, not bad. Groovy Smoothie?"

"Nah, Spencer bought a new blender after the last one caught fire so I thought I'd try it out."

Sam laughed. Spencer was always catching stuff on fire.

It was quiet for a moment between the girls before Sam spoke "So…about Freddie…do you want to talk about it?"

Carly thought for a moment. She then shook her head "Let's just let sleeping dogs lie for tonight. I'm sick of 'Freddie' drama, I want to chill for the rest of the night."

Sam understood. She wasn't exactly In the mood to talk about Freddie either for numerous reasons "So is that an invitation for me to spend the night?" Sam questioned with a smile.

Carly took a small sip from her smoothie before answering "Sure."

"Great, guests get all smoothie privileges!" Sam yelled as she yanked the glass from Carly's hands in a surprise attack, straw and all.

"Hey give that back!" Carly screeched as she attempted to get her drink back.

"Guests first Carly! You're being a bad hostess!"

Carly was about to speak, but was interrupted by a loud shout of "It's celebration time!" Spencer came running out into the living room, and then bolted for the girls at the counter.

"Why so happy?" Carly asked, forgetting that her smoothie was still in the possession of the rambunctious blonde.

"Why aren't _you_ so happy?" Spencer had a wide grin on his face.

"Look Spence, can you just save us some time and tell us why we must celebrate?" Sam said this with a bit of playful sass in her tone.

Spencer sighed as if Carly and Sam were crazy for not knowing "It's been one week! Freddie's out of quarantine!"

The blonde and brunette looked at each other skeptically, then back to Spencer.

"What on Earth are you talking about?" Carly asked, still believing Spencer to be acting strange.

Now Spencer seemed confused "Sam said last week that Freddie wasn't over because he got sick so his mom was keeping him in quarantine or something. And that's why you haven't been able to do iCarly or have Freddie over."

Both girls thought for a moment. Then recalling the excuse Sam had used to explain Freddie's absence, they both agreed awkwardly "Oh, right. The uh, sickness thing." They'd forgot comepletly about iCarly, being so involved in their problems with Freddie. They hadn't even told their iCarly fans what was going on.

Spencer eyed them shortly with question before saying "Well, what are you waiting for? Get that boy over here for some spaghetti tacos! We get Freddo and iCarly back!" Spencer raised his hand in the air for a high five that was not returned by either girl "You two okay?"

Sam quickly pulled Carly a couple feet away, setting down the smoothie glass on their way, and whispered "I think it's time we tell him."

"But Sam-"

"Look, we've, well mostly you, have been trying to fix this for about a week now. He at least has the right to know since Freddie's still mad and we don't know how to fix it, or how long it will take to fix it."

"But we can fix it and he doesn't have to know." Carly whispered back.

"Carly, what's the right thing to do? Spencer might actually be able to help us."

Carly was hesitant, but in the end decided "Alright, we'll tell him. So much for letting sleeping dogs lie."

"That's a weird expression."

"Yeah, I wonder who came up with it."

Both girls chuckled lightly at what they'd said, and walked back to the waiting Spencer, who had busied himself with a feather he'd found somewhere.

"Spencer?" Sam started.

The man's attention quickly averted form the feather and to the girls "Uh, what?"

"We have something to tell you." Sam continued.

Spencer eyed them both "What about?"

"What we were just talking about." Carly answered.

"And that was?"

"Freddie. You know, how you wanted to celebrate?"

It all came back to the man "Oh right. Sorry, I forgot. Got a little distracted. But yeah, call him. I'll start my tacos."

"That's actually what we wanted to talk to you about." that was Sam this time.

"My tacos?"

"No, Freddie. About the celebration."

"What about it. You don't think he'll like it? We an just have him over for tacos then. I haven't seen him in what feels like forever."

"He was never in quarantine Spence." Carly said.

"Then where is he? Oh my God! Is he dead!? How could you not tell me!?" Spencer began to pace hysterically.

"He's not dead Spencer." Sam said with a small laugh.

The man sighed, relieved, and moved to a standstill in front of the two best friends "Then what about Freddie? Where has he been?"

Carly sucked in a deep breath "Well, last Sunday…"

* * *

The three had been sitting there for the past half an hour as Carly and Sam took turns filling Spencer in on the events of the past week.

After both girls were done speaking, it fell silent for a few seconds.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Spencer asked.

"I didn't want you to worry about me if you didn't have to. I also thought I could fix this a lot quicker." Carly answered.

"Yeah, well if Benson would stop acting like a wuss-" Sam began.

"That's the exact kind of stuff that made Freddie leave Sam." Carly snapped, aggravated.

"Hey, Carly," Sam began calmly "We have to stick together. If we become enemies, Freddie gets just what he wants."

"No, he wants you to quit making fun of him, and me to stand up for him when you do."

"And I want a million pounds of ham!" Sam shouted "We all want things that we aren't going to get."

Before Carly could say anything back, Spencer cut in "Chill out girls. You just need to go upstairs and…I dunno, paint your nails or yell out your window to hobos." Spencer smirked.

He was right. Carly and Sam needed to relax.

"Alright Spencer. We'll go chillax for the night." Sam returned the smile as she and Carly rose from the couch.

"Night big brother." Carly said.

"Night little sister."

* * *

Sam was on Carly's bed, using a toe separator and everything. Painting other people's nails was one way to cheer Carly up, so Sam sacrificed her feet to the horrors of hot pink with purple polka dots.

But even though Carly was preoccupied, Freddie far from her mind, Sam wasn't exactly having that much ease keeping him out of her thoughts.

"There, done." Carly smiled as she looked over her work on Sam's toes "They look so cute." she squealed.

Sam dared to look at her feet, and they were indeed what Carly would find adorable "Yeah, really cute." Sam sighed.

"Can I do your hands too?" Carly questioned.

Sam groaned "Oh come on! That's the part people see!"

Carly smiled "I'll do colors like blue and green or something so it's not so girly." Carly offered.

"Having your nails painted is girly no matter what color."

"So I could paint them to match your toes!?" Carly screamed with joy.

"No!" Sam halted Carly's actions.

"Aww come on. I want to paint your nails." Carly gave Sam her puppy dog look.

Sam sighed "Fine. But _only _blue or green or something not oober girly. Okay?"

"Deal!" Carly squealed with joy again as she pulled out a lime green and a dark blue.

Sam couldn't help but smile at her best friend.

After about five minutes of silence, Carly had to ask "What are you thinking about Sam."

"Who said I was thinking?" Sam answered. She didn't want to admit she was thinking about her newly discovered crush.

"That's your thinking face, so you're thinking." Carly smiled.

Sam didn't speak.

Carly ran another stroke of the brush across Sam's ring finger as she waited for a response, but when none came, she asked again "Sam, come on, you can tell me. What is it?"

* * *

**Okay, that's the chapter :D We're starting to see Sam slowly wanting Freddie in her life more and more, and fighting a little harder to get him back. As at the beginning she wasn't trying at all.**

**But will Sam tell Carly what she's feeling or not? (I honestly am still deciding, so tell me what you think if you have an opinion please)**

**And I hope you're cool with the fact that I skipped over Carly and Sam telling Spencer what has happened with Freddie. It would just be a needless recap of the story.**

**But why was Spencer so cool with the Freddie situation? Maybe he has a couple tricks up his sleeve…**

**Review please, I'm unsure of how I did with this chapter :)**


	9. Spencer Gives It A Go

**I'm baaaaaaaaaaack :) Did you miss me? First off I wanted to apologize for putting a pause in this story. I was just loosing the feel for it so I wanted to lay off for a little while to see if I'd want to write for it again. And I do :D I also want to say I may be a bit rusty because I haven't written in a few months. But I hope you enjoy regardless.**

* * *

"Sam, come on, you can tell me. What is it?" Carly urged, referring to Sam's resistance of spilling what was going on with her.

Sam fidgeted. She would have started playing with her hands but Carly was still painting them at the moment. She didn't want to tell Carly about her crush for Freddie for some reason. In a way it was Sam admitting she truly missed Freddie. And she'd been fighting with Carly about how she didn't miss him ever since he was gone. If she let Carly know what she was feeling, she was basically telling Carly that she was right. And Sam _hated_ being wrong.

"I-it's nothing. Really." Sam said shakily.

Carly stopped stroking the brush across Sam's nails as she looked at her best friend "Sam." Carly urged sternly.

Sam made an attempt to change the topic "Yes, bestest friend in the whole wide world?" Sam said sweetly "You know, that is a really cute shirt. Who got it for you? Or did you and your amazing-ness pick it out yourself?"

Carly tilted her head to the side with an _are you kidding me?_ look, simply saying _nice try, now what are you _really_ thinking?_

Sam groaned "Just let it go Carls."

"No." Carly said with a half smile so she didn't sound as mean "Tell me what is up."

Sam hesitated, then let out a sigh. She was going to tell Carly, but instead of saying 'I like Freddie' she said "It's Melanie."

Carly raised an eyebrow in disbelief "Melanie?"

Sam nodded. She didn't know why she had fibbed, but she decided to go with this anyway.

Carly shook her head and began painting Sam's nail again as she said "Sam, you hate Melanie. Why are bothering to think about her?"

"Well…she likes someone. But it's not going to work out for her. I feel bad for her."

Carly looked up from the blonde's hand "Why are you all mopey? Usually when she's miserable you're jumping around happier than seagulls when they get to eat a bag of fries."

Sam smiled at Carly's unusual reference, but then returned to her previous state "Well…I'm sad because…because I…because we have that twin technolopothy thing…" Sam trailed off, hoping Carly believed her terrible lie.

"Do you mean twin _telepathy_?"

"Yeah!" Sam exclaimed "That's why I'm upset." Sam made a sad face.

The brunette looked Sam over, deciding whether or not to believe her. But since Sam very seldom lied to her, Carly chose to trust her words. She sighed "If you say so."

Sam grew slightly hot. She didn't like lying to her best friend. She had to tell Carly the truth.

"Carls?" Sam said.

"Yeah?" Carly replied as she finished the first coat of Sam's final nail and placed the brush back into its bottle.

Sam was silent for a few moments, willing herself to speak "I…" but the right words didn't come "I want food."

Carly laughed "Of course you do. Come on. Just don't touch anything until your nails dry."

The youngest Shay rose and grabbed Sam by the wrist, pulling her to the kitchen.

But for the first time since Sam could remember, she actually wasn't hungry at all.

* * *

A few hours later, about 9:15, Spencer knocked on Carly's bedroom door.

A cheery "Come in!" was heard from the other side of the door from both girls along with blaring, upbeat music.

The man smiled, happy the girls were in a good mood, and entered the room.

Sam was laying on her back, her head hanging off the end of Carly's pink covered bed as her long and curly blonde hair cascaded to the floor. She was holding a spoon with cookie dough ice cream caked on the end of it. Sam was eating it lick by lick, a smile on her face.

Carly had the ice cream bucket in her lap while she sat Indian style on the floor by Sam's head. She had a fork and was eating ice cream as well.

Spencer chuckled slightly then pointed to Carly "Why are you eating your ice cream with a fork?"

Carly looked to her brother "Because we didn't have any more clean spoons."

Both girls laughed for a reason unknown to Spencer.

"Well a certain baby sister hasn't been doing her chores the past couple days. And those chores include the dishes."

Carly looked longingly at her ice cream covered fork as she said "I'm depressed. Can't work. Sorry." Carly then viciously attacked her fork and ate the ice cream. But before she could even swallow, she and Sam burst into a fit of laughter.

"Yeah." Spencer said sarcastically "Reeeeeeaaaaaal depressed."

Sam now turned to the man "Hey! This is the most fun we've had since Benson ditched. So put a cork in it Shay. Tonight what you say is not important…unless it's about food. Then we're all ears." Sam grinned widely as she ate a bite of frozen deliciousness.

Spencer couldn't help bit crack a smile. He honestly hadn't seen either girl this happy since last Sunday as well. He didn't know why they were sadder most of the week, but he definitely had noticed something.

"Why are you guys so happy?" Spencer questioned.

"Why so curious?" Carly questioned with a giggle.

"Should I not be curious?"

"Well," Carly began "Curiosity _did_ kill the cat."

Before Spencer could respond, Sam scoffed "Curiosity didn't kill the cat. Stupidity killed the cat."

Everyone smiled at the blonde's words.

"But to answer dear brother Spencer," Sam said as she sat up on the bed "we-whoa! _That's_ where all my blood was." Sam said as she grabbed her head, where all the blood was rushing from.

Both Shays shared a glance of amusement.

Carly's BFF shook her head and then continued "Anyway. Me and Carlotta _were_ all sad, but then once we got food a while ago, we decided that we needed a night of fun. So we decided that tonight nothing could make us go blah. Not even toad boy."

Spencer raised an eyebrow "Toad boy?"

"Benson." Sam quickly interjected before licking the last bit of ice cream off her spoon.

Spencer scoffed "I knew who you meant."

Carly looked at her brother skeptically "Or did you?"

The teens laughed hysterically again as Sam dunked her spoon in the ice cream tub on Carly's lap.

"Whatever." Spencer said with yet another grin "You girls have fun. I'm gonna be gone for a little while. I'll probably be back around eleven or midnight."

"Why?" Carly asked "What are you doing?"

"Umm…nothing. Just…going out." Spencer said slowly.

"Ya know," Carly said pointing her fork at her brother "Normally I would interrogate you until you told me what you were doing, but right now…I don't care too much."

Spencer sighed, relief washing over him. He didn't need his sister knowing what he was doing…not yet at least.

Spencer waved goodbye to the girls, and began to close the door, but halted when Carly screamed "Wait!"

"Yes?" Spencer asked, poking his head back in the room.

"Is it safe? What you're doing I mean. You won't get hurt will you?"

"No Carls. I won't get hurt. Promise."

Both Shays shared a smile as Spencer closed the door.

* * *

Spencer swung his blue duffel bag of equipment over his shoulder as he shut the door to his apartment.

He turned around and stood looking at the Benson apartment.

Spencer sucked in a deep breath, slowly walked up, and then knocked three times.

The man stood there waiting for about a minute, and then the door flew open.

"Spencer!" Freddie shouted gleefully "What's up?"

"Well, I haven't seen you in a while so I wanted to know if you wanted to hang out."

Freddie's smile disappeared "At your place?"

Spencer shook his head "Nah, the fencing studio."

"But I thought Carly didn't like you fencing."

"What's your point?"

"And it's after nine."

"I'm still waiting on a point Freddie."

It was quiet for a moment, then Freddie said "Alright. Let me get my stuff."

"That's my man!" Spencer cheered.

"Shhh!" Freddie yelled "My mom is asleep. I'm not supposed to leave."

"Oh, I don't want to get you in trouble. Maybe we should go some other time."

"No, don't be stupid. I miss you Spence. I want to go." Freddie really had missed Spencer in the middle of his feud with Carly and Sam. He was happy he and Spencer could still be buds.

Spencer smiled "I miss you too kiddo."

* * *

It was just a little after eleven when Freddie and Spencer walked down hallway eight laughing.

"You _totally_ rocked tonight Freddie!" Spencer cheered "You squashed Carson!"

"I know!" Freddie exclaimed. Carson was the new cocky kid at the fencing studio. He had replaced Toader about a year ago.

"You are master of dethroning the jerks at that place! Good job kid!" Spencer ruffled Freddie's hair as Freddie laughed as her opened the door to his apartment.

"Fredward Benson! When the heck have you been! I've been worried sick! Do you have any idea what time it is!"

"Oh crap." Freddie's face fell as he look at his borderline insane mother. Her hair was a mess and she was in her germ repellent, gray robe "I'm sorry mom. I was- I was-"

"He was with me Mrs. Benson." Spencer cut in, saving Freddie.

"Why on _Earth_ would you take Freddie out so late at night!"

Before Spencer could answer, Mrs. Benson gasped.

"You took him _fencing_!" she screeched, looking at the two duffel bags Spencer and Freddie carried.

Mrs. Benson had only let Freddie fence years ago to defeat Toader. Then she put a halt on his hobby claiming, once again, that it was too dangerous.

"We didn't go fencing." Spencer said steadily. He was a horrible liar, but he could lie to Freddie's mother easily.

"Then why do you both have your fencing tools?" she snapped.

"Because we…went to a class that helps you quit fencing. Yeah. You bring your fencing tools and they teach you to do more useful things with your stuff rather than use them in a dangerous battle."

Mrs. Benson pursed her lips "Teach stuff like what?"

"Well tonight we were…cutting fruit. So instead of participating in a dangerous activity, you could make a healthy snack."

Spencer was amazed how quickly he was thinking off the top of his head.

The woman looked Spencer over "Why does he need all of his gear then if he's only using the…sword?" it seemed as if Mrs. Benson found difficulty saying 'sword'.

"For protection of course. What crazy teacher would let a child use a blade_ without_ protection?" the man said it as if anyone who would allow it would be crazy.

"Well that's true. But why are the classes so late at night. It's not safe at night."

"Well, Freddie wanted to surprise you when we finished the classes so he wanted to take the late one so you wouldn't know. But don't worry, if he's with me he's not in danger." Spencer smiled to assure Mrs. Benson.

She was quiet for a moment "Well…thank you for picking up on Freddie's fencing habit. I surprisingly didn't notice. And thank you also or helping him quit. I'm sorry I yelled at you."

Spencer waved off her thank you's "No biggie." he smiled. Normally, to him lying felt very wrong. But with this woman it felt like it was necessary for Freddie to have a life.

"So how often are the classes?" Mrs. Benson asked.

"Huh?" Spencer asked.

"The classes. When are they?"

Freddie, who had been silent until now, cut in "Twice a week. 9:30 to 10:30."

"Alright. I'll allow it. But get to bed. You must be so tired since your normal bedtime is nine."

"Yeah." Freddie faked a yawn. He normally just stayed in his room and was on his computer until he felt tired. But his mom didn't know that. "So tired. But um, can I talk to Spence in the hall for a sec? Ya know, about the classes?"

Spencer was about to ask the exact same thing. He had a reason for taking Freddie out tonight. It wasn't just about the fun. Spencer had to talk to Freddie.

Mrs. Benson took a few seconds, but agreed "Make it quit. Night sweetie." she gave Freddie a kiss on the forehead as Freddie groaned in protest.

When Freddie and Spencer were alone in the hall, Freddie was the first to speak.

"Thanks for taking me 'to class' tonight Spence. I needed it." Freddie put air quotes around 'to class'.

"No problem Freddo."

"It's just…this week has been so messed up. Did…did Carly and Sam tell you what was going on?"

Spencer sighed "Yeah. They told me today."

Freddie threw his hands up in exasperation "See! They don't even want me back enough to tell you for a week! They're ridiculous."

"You sound kind of like _you _want them back Freddie." Spencer said with a smirk.

"Why would I want back a 'friend' who tortures me, and a 'friend' who lets the torture happen. No thank you."

"They really do miss you Freddie. They've been upset all week."

Suddenly a gleeful scream was heard form the Shay apartment followed by a series of giggles and laughter.

_Ugh!_ Spencer thought with irritation _could they have picked a worse night to be happy?_

Freddie look at Spencer "Yeah. They just sound so torn up." the sarcasm was heavy in his voice.

"They really do miss you. They're so sorry."

"Not you too." Freddie whined "Why can't _we_ just be friends?"

Spencer chuckled, leaving Freddie confused.

"You really don't get it do you Fredster?"

"Get what?"

"How much they love you."

Freddie was quiet for a few seconds "They don't love me. If they did they would treat me better." the argument wasn't even strong. Almost as if Freddie didn't believe the words he was saying.

"You never let them know how much you were really bothered by Sam picking on you. To everyone around you it seemed as if you liked fighting with Sam." Spencer said calmly.

"Who likes being picked on!" Freddie exclaimed.

Spence put his hands up in defense "My point is that if they had known, things would have been different."

"Why can't you just let this go?" Freddie asked with an edge to his voice.

"You're hurting my sister. And badly too. I'm not sure I can let it go. I'll still be your friend, but I'm not going to drop this."

"Don't worry about Carly. She'll get over it." Freddie said, somewhat coldly.

"But will you?"

No one spoke.

Spencer gave Freddie a short wave goodbye, then entered his apartment. He gave Freddie a look that said _just think about it _as he threw his bag of equipment on the floor and turned away.

When he opened the door, the muffled screams of Carly and Sam were released.

"Give it back!" Carly yelled while she laughed.

"Come and get it Shay!" Sam yelled back "Mmmmm! So good!"

The door was then shut and Spencer began to speak "Sam, share the ice cream."

Sam screamed wildly and Freddie could hear her and the Shays running around the apartment.

Freddie listened for a minute, almost wishing he was there joining in the fun. Maybe Spencer was right.

Then there was a shout of "Ow! Sam!" from Carly.

Freddie then remembered again why he dropped them as friends.

Maybe he wasn't.

* * *

**That was my returning chapter. I hope it was good and fit well. Again, sorry for the long break. But I'm back now :) Review and let me know what you thought.**


	10. A Look At Freddie's Thoughts

**Hey guys :D Thanks for all the reviews! They were great to read. Glad you liked it!**

* * *

Carly moped into Ridgeway Monday morning. Her and Sam's weekend had brightened her mood, but her joy had only lasted so long. After the carefree night Sam and Carly had shared after their carnival plan had failed, the two had also decided to not let the 'Freddie Situation' bother them Sunday either. But once Sam had left to go home on Sunday, Carly was left alone…and when she was alone she started thinking again of Freddie.

The brunette pushed a piece of hair away from her face as she continued walking. She quickly placed her things in her locker and, in another attempt to regain her friend, began looking for Freddie.

Carly started off checking by his locker. She came up with nothing. She then continued her search by the AV Club room, followed by the office, the gym, and Freddie's first hour. The brunette couldn't find him in any of his usual spots…at least the ones she always found him at when she looked for her best guy friend every morning back when they were two peas in a pod.

The teenager shook her head in disappointment and then decided she'd talk to him later. Carly made her way back to her locker to find Sam, who she hadn't seen yet that morning, but was halted when she bumped into a familiar face.

"Oh, hey Carly." Gibby said with a smile.

"Hey Gibbs. How are things?"

"Can't complain too much. I mean it's not like my peanut butter is jumbled up with my sun block or anything."

Carly's brow furrowed in confusion "You really need to stop hanging out with Ruben. You're starting to sound just like him." she didn't even bother to try to decode what Gibby had meant.

"Ummm right." the chubby boy said slowly. It was quiet for a moment before he then questioned "So, did you and Freddie and Sam work everything out?"

Carly forced a smile "No, not yet. But thank you for Saturday. I can't remember if I said so or not."

Gibby waved off her comment "I don't deserve a thank you. Freddie got away before you guys settled everything because of me."

"Don't worry about it. If he was willing to forgive us he would have. You letting him go wasn't the problem."

"Still, I'm sorry I did."

Carly just smiled lightly rather than saying anything back.

The two didn't speak for a few moments so Gibby decided he would go. He gave a short wave goodbye and then turned.

Carly returned the gesture, but then hastily grabbed Gibby's arm and pulled him back, remembering what she was doing before she ran into Gibby.

"Have you seen Freddie this morning? I need to…" Carly trailed off but Gibby filled the gap in her sentence.

"Talk to him?"

Carly hesitated "Uh, sure. Something like that."

"Yeah, I saw him heading toward the lunch room about five minutes ago with Shane."

Carly froze momentarily. She remembered Shane. He was the guy both her and Sam fell all over about a year ago and went so crazy in a competition to win his heart they drove him to fall down an elevator shaft. He'd come back to Ridgeway a few months ago after healing from the accident, but put up his very best effort to steer clear of both iCarly hosts.

"Thanks." Carly said. And then quickly made her way to the cafeteria. She wasn't too thrilled about seeing Shane because he now was either very afraid of her or hated her.

She entered the lunch room and glanced around until her eyes fell upon two boys. One with short brown hair and a plaid blue shirt. Freddie was leaning against the white wall across the cafeteria, talking to Shane. The vending machines next to them.

Carly did a double take when she saw Shane. His sandy brown hair had grown out a little bit and he had gained quite a bit of muscle. He wasn't so much cute anymore, he in fact had now developed into 'hot'. He stood across from Freddie. They were engaged in conversation.

Carly wondered for a moment if she should approach, but decided to after a minute or two of contemplating that she would.

The brunette began walking slowly over. She was coming up from Shane and Freddie's side.

As she drew close to the two boys she began to pick up on their conversation.

"Hey," Freddie began, looking down and into his bag rather than ahead "You're still coming to my house later tonight to finish installing the eight cord three gigahertz server, right?"

Shane paused "Umm…I dunno. You're still part of iCrazy right? I don't want to deal with those two."

Freddie looked up, his eyes missing Carly who was now standing next to the vending machines, leaning against one waiting for one of the boys that were standing a few feet away to notice her.

"Actually we aren't friends anymore. I got tired of Sam treating me like a live punching bag and Carly doing nothing about it."

It stung Carly a bit to hear that, but she didn't say anything.

"Oh. I thought the rumors about you guys splitting were fake…but cool, cool. But can we meet at my house instead? I never want to see the Bushwell Plaza elevator ever again. Plus, the last time I was over there your mom practically shoved a cucumber down my throat."

Freddie smiled. _How can he be so rude to me and Sam but so nice to everyone else?_ Carly thought.

Freddie began talking again, agreeing to meet at Shane's house, but Carly, still unnoticed, decided it was time to make herself known.

She walked forward and lightly cleared her throat. Looking at Shane she said "Can I talk to Freddie for a minute?"

Shane's eyes went wide when he saw who was talking to him. He was a bit afraid of what she could do.

He quickly looked over to Freddie, who had a bored/annoyed look on his face now, and said hastily "See ya later Freddie." before quickly turning around and hightailing it away form Carly.

Freddie sighed, eyeing Shane as he left, then turned to glare at Carly "You got me alone. What do you want."

Carly hadn't really thought what she would say to him. She just made up he mind to talk to him this morning.

"Um…I uh…" she trailed off, unable to form proper words.

Freddie let out an aggravated sigh "Look Carly, I don't have time for this." he then made a move to leave promptly.

"No, Freddie, wait!" Carly called as she grabbed for his arm and with surprising force pulled him back so he was standing really close to her.

Freddie was so close to Carly at the moment he had to look down to talk to her "What?" he snarled coldly.

Carly struggled for words, wondering if she should ask first. I mean he'd said last week he no longer liked Carly but she didn't know if he'd only said that because he'd ditched them shortly before that or if it was true. She'd thought about if she should go through with this all last night. She didn't know if it was a valid way to get Freddie back or not, but showing him she cared had to do something right?

"Look, if you're just going to stand there then you can do it without me here." the boy snapped, once more moving to leave.

"No, Freddie! I-"

"What Carly? What?" ice coated these words.

Carly opened her mouth, staring into Freddie's angry eyes, but when no words came out, she decided on a whim to just go for it.

Carly leaned forward in a last desperate attempt, pressing her lips to Freddie's. She let go of his arm and moved her hands to his hair, pulling him closer. She got a reaction from Freddie, but it was minimal. Carly didn't know if that was good or bad.

After a few moments, Carly pulled away. She first looked at Freddie's face. She wanted to know what he thought of her kissing him.

Freddie's face was a mix of anger, confusion, and thought. Carly had no idea what was going through his head.

"Carly." Freddie said flatly.

"Yeah?" Carly's hope rose slightly. Was he going to tell her good news?

"Don't kiss me." his tone was emotionless.

Carly's heart sank "But Freddie," Carly said, the desperation clear in her voice "I just thought that-"

"I know what you thought!" Freddie snapped "And un-think it! Toying with emotions I _don't_ have for you isn't going to get me back! You don't even like me anyway!"

Carly couldn't deny that statement. She didn't like Freddie, she just hoped letting him know she cared in any way would work.

"Freddie…I just…I…" Carly said, unable to form a sentence describing her thoughts.

"What will it take for you to realize we are over? Our friendship is done. The sooner you get it through your head the better our lives will be from here on out."

Carly stood there paralyzed from the rejection. And the fact Freddie didn't seem to care hurt worse.

He just walked away, leaving Carly behind believing he didn't care at all. But when she looked down in sadness she didn't see him stop, turn halfway around and glance at her with a sympathetic look, before he shook his head in confusion and kept on walking.

* * *

Carly trudged up the stairs of Bushwell Plaza as she made her way up to her apartment on the eighth floor.

As she approached her front door, she pulled her keys out of her bag. Their jingling was he only sound heard in the deathly quiet hallway.

The brunette motioned to slide her keys into the key hole, but she retracted her arm centimeters before she completed her set task.

She let her arm drop as she let out a hard and desperate sigh. She needed a minute to herself before she went inside. She hadn't had one in a while.

Ever since Spencer had found out about Freddie he was spending nearly all his time with Carly to try and keep her mind off things. And Carly's normal stressor relief was out. Taking long showers to help clear her head wasn't an option. She knew that if she took the really long showers Spencer would know how depressed she really and truly was. And since Spencer was trying so hard to keep her happy she didn't want to basically scream to him _"Your attempts at making me feel better haven't worked. You are a failure."_ Carly was at least putting up the effort to seem somewhat cheery around Spencer.

The girl let her weight fall into the wall as she slid downward onto the floor. Carly curled up in the fetal position and hid her eyes in her arms that rested on her knees.

The realization of her life was truly hitting her now. She felt as if all hope was lost. Carly had tried everything she could think of, and it hadn't worked. Freddie still wasn't forgiving her, and he didn't look like he planned to.

Carly let it all out. She let her tears fall. The heat of them running down her face and soaking into her clothes. She felt as if a doctor had viciously hacked out a piece of her and sent her on her way without any medication to numb the pain.

Freddie had basically done just that. He'd ripped out her heart and stomped on it. And what was worse is he didn't even seem to care that she was miserable. Did their friendship really mean so little to him that he could see her this hurt and be un-phased?

Carly wished she could go back. Go back to the beginning when they were all just becoming friends. Before iCarly had even started. She would have done everything differently. She would have said something every time Sam snapped a nasty comment. And would have helped Freddie out of one of his and Sam's smack downs rather than standing on the sidelines and watching with a smile on her face. She would have made an effort to realize how much the torment Sam forced upon him wasn't all fun and games. She just would have changed it all.

Carly sucked in a hard breath, attempting to stop crying. She couldn't walk into her apartment like this. Spencer would be sick with worry and all her work of faking happiness would go to waste.

She needed to close out the world. So she reached for her Pear Pod and went to a song that always seemed to calm her down.

The tears continued to fall for the next couple minutes as she consoled herself and swallowed her emotions. And soon enough her eyes were dry.

Carly lifted her head and put her Pear Pod back. She stood up and continued to lean against the wall. She had to give her eyes a few minutes to un-reden and become less puffy otherwise it would give away she had been crying.

Carly breathed in deeply and collected herself after she was sure her eyes were back to normal. She forced a smile and a look of joy to her face and then as she had intended almost a half hour ago walked into her apartment, seemingly unaffected by what Freddie had done to her.

* * *

Freddie kicked his bedroom door shut in frustration. He was almost at his breaking point. He couldn't take it anymore.

The boy fell backwards onto his bed and picked up a pillow. He put the pillow over his face and screamed. He was so confused he didn't know what to do with himself.

Freddie flashed back to moments ago when he was in the hallway;

_Freddie walked up the steps that led to floor eight. He wanted to get home so he could try to unblock his head before he went to Shane's house._

_But as he strode onto floor eight, he froze from what he saw._

_Carly. She was curled up into a ball and sobbing. She had her earbuds in and was listening to music as if to make the world around her disappear as she wallowed in her depression._

_If hearts made a sound when they broke, a loud crack would have rocked through the whole building at that exact point from Freddie's chest._

_He mentally beat himself up. This was because of him. Carly broken and shattered to the point where she was crying in a hallway was all due to Freddie._

_Freddie's heart screamed at him to sit right next to Carly and hold her in his arms as he comforted her and begged for forgiveness from his insanely retarded actions. He just wanted to make it all better because he still loved Carly. She was practically his sister and he nearly tore in two seeing her like this. And it killed him more to know it was his fault._

_But Freddie's head was holding him back. It was saying that this needed to be done to get respect. Freddie had asked Sam time and time again to cool it with the beatings, and it hadn't worked. They needed a good kick in the gut if anything was going to change._

_Freddie didn't know what to do. He didn't know if he should listen to his heart and go back to be treated like a walking punching bag, or to continue to try to get respect as he watched Carly's heart being cut into millions of pieces._

_Then something occurred to Freddie. Where was Sam? Where was Sam being hurt? Where was Sam caring he was gone? Where was Sam realizeing what a demon she could be? Where was Sam when her best friend needed someone to comfort her?_

_Freddie grew slightly angry as he realized he probably was putting Carly through this hell for nothing. _Both_ Carly and Sam needed to get Freddie's message before anything was going to change. If all that changed was Carly telling Sam to stop each time she did something mean to Freddie, it would be the same as before. Sam wouldn't listen. She never did. Sam did what Sam wanted. And if Sam didn't get the message then there was no respect to be gained on Freddie's part._

_He had to keep shutting Carly out. He had to. If he didn't nothing would work. He would shut Sam out as well but it's hard to shut someone out when they are never around to _be_ shut out. Sam hadn't _once_ tried to get Freddie's forgiveness. So he'd hoped that when Sam saw what it was doing to Carly that she'd actually dig into her heart and try to be nice. If not for her and Freddie's friendship, then for the sake of her best friend._

_Well, if Sam wasn't going to be there for Carly, then he was._

_Freddie took a step forward toward Carly, then halted._

_He couldn't do this. Not yet at least. He had to keep it up for just a little bit longer._

_So the boy entered his apartment, and since Carly hadn't heard him because of her music, she never even knew he was there._

Freddie yelled into his pillow again. He didn't think he could hurt Carly anymore. He still cared about their friendship and her as much as he did before. And he wondered if keeping up the jerk act would even do any good if Sam wasn't even getting the point.

Freddie sighed. _Sam. _He wondered if she was even affected by this whole thing. She seemed like her life was just as it was before the fight, and hadn't put forth any effort to try to get Freddie back on her own. She didn't even seem phased by Carly's pain…but that might be because she wanted to be strong. Sam never liked being weak. But Freddie honestly had no idea what was going on in that blonde's head. And he had no idea if what he was doing was even worth it.

Freddie felt as if his world had spiraled out of control all in an effort to be picked on a little less.

Freddie's chest tightened. Okay, so it was about a little bit more than respect and having less bruises.

He was just sick of being rejected. Especially by the girls he liked.

For years Freddie followed Carly around like an obsessed puppy, hoping and praying that after the six thousand no's Freddie would eventually get a yes. He got one after he'd saved Carly's life, but he turned out to be 'just bacon' in the end. He didn't know when he lost interest in Carly. But he just noticed one day he only saw her as a friend. A sister.

He didn't know when he fell for Sam either. He also didn't know why. She was constantly tormenting him and hurting him, but something happened in between the wedgies and the name calling. Maybe it was because she was beautiful. In some ways she was prettier than Carly, but then again Carly had her moments too. Or maybe it was because when Sam wanted to she could be really sweet and a good friend.

Either way, no matter the reason, Freddie still liked her, and just wanted some acceptance.

He thought it was him. Maybe he was an annoying nub who asked for everything Sam gave him. That's why the day he exploded and dropped them he was acting nice. He wasn't trying to be annoying. He was acting as is everything Sam did was okay and hoped if she got her way she'd realize he wasn't so bad.

But then in a stupid move, he overreacted when Sam picked a fight over his father, and just decided to cut them both out of his life. Sure, his dad was a really touchy subject, but he could have gotten mad, and then made up with them the next day.

But he didn't. He decided to make the girls realize how much he means to them and then they would accept him for who he was…mostly Sam.

But it now looked as if that plan was crumbling beneath his feet since Sam didn't even seem to care Freddie had up and left. She just allowed his absence, and didn't blink and eye in objection. Freddie had held it together at first. Acting like he was genuinely mad, but now each time he hurt Carly he was beginning to show how sorry how was for it.

Freddie's real problem was what his next move would be. Would he go back to his friends, tell them he was stupid for doing what he did, and have everything be just like before? Allowing the girl he cared about to openly say how much she's irritated by his existence and beat him up because he has an 'ugly face' in her words? Or would he hold out longer hanging by the thread of possibility that this could still work and Sam would get it through her thick skull?

Freddie didn't know. He didn't know anything anymore.

* * *

**Wow…this chapter was beyond difficult for me to get right…and I'm not even sure if I did. It took me days to figure out the right way to explain why Freddie is doing what he's doing and I hope I was clear enough. I'm not sure on how else to say it. I even wrote this entire chapter out and threw it away because I hated how it sounded so much. The only thing of my first version of this that survived to THIS version was the first paragraph used to open the chapter. I just have no idea how I did on this so if you could let me know how I did I'd appreciate it :)**

**Also, I hope you don't hate me for having Carly kiss Freddie…the way I see it is that she had run out of ideas so in one last desperate action she hoped it might work. It just seemed necessary.**

**And sorry for no Sam in this chapter…but no worries. I've got plans for her in the next one ;) hmm…that sounds a bit menacing…or is that just me?**

**P.S.- I realize it took me a while to get this up but I hope you understand because I wanted to make this right and understandable for you guys. I hope the wait did its justice and you all get Freddie's feelings.**


	11. Progress?

**Thank you for the reviews! **

**But I wanted to point something out before I started. I got a review that said they wished "Freddie was actually mad rather than just acting". I wanted to clear this up since apparently I failed at explaining that part of it. Freddie is mad. He's mad he's always rejected and he's mad he is treated terribly and he wants respect. He just _also_ feels guilty for hurting his friends (more-so Carly) because he cares a lot for them. His guilt and anger are just mixing together to make Freddie have to act sometimes. Like he feels Carly understands he needs better treatment and if he did become her friend again that she would stick up for him more. But at the same time he has to continue to be mean to her in the hopes that Sam will get the message. He thinks if he just accepts Carly again Sam will treat him the same (always making fun of him, beating him up). He would just accept Carly back and not Sam but he knows that that is probably not an option since Carly and Sam are always together. In short explanation; he is acting like he's mad at Carly to get through to Sam who he is still mad at. Does all that make sense? If it doesn't let me know what you don't understand and I'll try to answer and explain :)**

**Now onto the chapter!**

* * *

Carly walked into her apartment, her fake smile plastered on her face. She hoped her eyes had returned to their normal state by now.

"Spencer! I'm home!" she called in a cheery tone as she shut the door behind her.

Carly turned around, now facing the living room, and then was met with slight surprise when she saw Sam sitting on her couch.

"Spencer's not here." the blonde said blandly as she brought a piece of turkey to her mouth.

"Oh, okay." the brunette said with a smile before plopping down next to her best friend. Then, to cut through the somewhat awkward silence she continued with "What? No ham?" referring to Sam eating turkey over her all time favorite meat.

"You don't have any ham for Mamma."

"Oh!" she feigned shock and joy "I guess we'll have to buy more then."

"Carls. You can cut the act."

The smile immediately slid from Carly's face. She let her head fall back onto the couch's back and sighed miserably "Is it really that obvious?"

Sam set down the meat she was holding "Not to the average nubs. But to your best and totally awesome friend, yes. Extremely."

Carly groaned as a response and fell forward into her hands.

"Another unsuccessful mission?" Sam questioned.

Carly lifted up her head and looked at Sam "Yeah." Carly didn't even have to ask what Sam meant. It was obvious she was talking about Freddie.

"What happened this time?"

"Well, if you had actually gone to school today you would already know." Carly said with a bit of attitude in her tone "I was _planning_ to tell you during first hour but _someone_ decided not to come."

Sam threw her hands up in defense "It's not my fault school felt like it would be extra boring today! I can barely handle it on normal days. You can't blame me for going on instinct."

"You're right. I can't." Carly said in a 'matter-of-factly' voice "But I can refuse to tell you what happened today." the brunette leaned back with satisfaction.

"That's not fair!" the blonde whined.

"It's plenty fair." Carly said with a playful smirk. Then the smile faded as she remembered, once again, why she was upset "It doesn't even matter anyway. My plan failed. We're not going to get Freddie back. We might as well stop trying."

Sam immediately fell into her best friend's mood "Don't say that Carls. He'll come back. Maybe we just have to try…something different."

"I've already tried everything I can think of. It's hopeless."

'_Maybe you tried everything _you_ could think of.'_ Sam thought.

Carly then, without warning or explanation, rose from her seat and walked over to her computer on the counter.

Sam follow suited asking "What are you doing?"

Carly sat down in the red counter chair and began logging in. As her fingers typed across the keyboard she answered "Well, we can't do iCarly without Freddie, and since I can't get him back I think the fans should know that until we find another technical producer to…replace him, that we aren't going to make any more shows."

"We can't replace Freddie on iCarly!" Sam shouted in objection. But it wasn't until Carly gave her an odd look that she realized her faux pas. She wasn't supposed to care he was gone. Or at least according to what she'd been telling Carly she didn't care. "I mean…no other nerds are better tha- no, I _mean_ that Freddie is the only one who can actually-" Sam stopped talking for a moment. She then sighed "Fine. Replace the dork."

The brunette eyed Sam, then refocused back on the computer monitor without saying anything.

During the time Carly's side was booting up, Sam asked "So, how long do you think it'll take until we can get a new nerd?" she didn't like asking this question. Freddie was the only technical producer iCarly should be allowed to have. It should be a law. No one else would be as dedicated as Freddie is…was. A small part of her, the part that still needed to pick on Freddie, didn't want to admit this, but the other part, the part that knew how she really felt for him, knew it was completely true.

Carly sighed and ran her fingers through her dark locks "I don't know." she then opened an internet window and began typing in the iCarly website address "Which is why we're telling the fans that-"

Carly froze as she looked at the website.

"What? What is it?" Sam questioned as she moved to get a look at the screen. When she saw what Carky was looking at, she too stood paralyzed.

Written across the top of the iCarly homepage was a banner that read;

_iCarly is on official hiatus until further notice. Any changes with be posted. Thank you._

_-Freddie Benson_

Both were quiet for a moment. Taking in the words and their meaning. Sam was the first to speak.

"Do you know what this means?" the excitement, though trying to be hidden, was still detectable in her voice.

"Yeah." Carly said. It sounded as if she was seconds from tears "It means we've officially lost him forever."

"What are you talking about?" Sam's excitement level dropped in misunderstanding.

"Save it Sam. I know you're excited because he's now really gone. You can go celebrate. Just don't make me watch."

"Again, what?" Sam was confused completely now.

"What?" Carly then asked. She was now lost too.

Sam shook her head, as if to shake out the jumbled thoughts "Carly, it doesn't mean we've lost him. It means we still have a chance." the joy climbed back up again. Sam wasn't even trying to hide it.

"Sam, you _do_ know what 'hiatus' means, right?"

Sam gave Carly an _'are you kidding me?'_ look "Yes I know what it means!"

"I don't think you do. Hiatus means-"

Sam cut her off "It means paused. I know."

"Yeah. Which basically means we've lost him."

"No it doesn't Carly. iCarly's been paused. _Not_ stopped."

"It's the same thing." Carly said back with a _'duh'_ look.

"No it not." Sam said with a smile "Stopped means it won't pick back up. Paused means it could continue."

"I still don't get it."

"What that is saying," Sam pointed to the screen for reference "is 'iCarly is on a break. If we get back together we will continue with this'. Carly, we still have a chance to get him back!"

The brunette wasn't getting excited. "But we don't know how long ago he posted that. What if it was last week a few days after we got in our fight? He could have changed his mind by now."

Sam shook her head "'Any changes will be posted'." She quoted Freddie "He would have changed that if anything happened."

Carly froze for a minute "So…we could still…?" she didn't even finish her sentence before Sam was nodding.

Suddenly Carly jumped up and began screaming. She grabbed her best friend in a death hug and started jumping up and down. The blonde was reluctant at first but joined in anyway. Sam didn't care that it was unlike a Puckett, she just cared that Carly was happy right now. And honestly, she was happy she still could get Freddie back too.

"Wait!" Carly abruptly stopped screaming and jumping as she let go of Sam.

"What?"

"Why are you all squeaky and jumpy and so un-Sam like right now?"

"Ummmm…no reason."

Carly's mouth went into an excited 'O' shape "Oh my gosh! You miss Freddie!"

"Do not!" Sam shouted back forcefully.

Carly wasn't buying it "You miss Freddie! You miss Freddie! You miss Freddie!" she chanted in a singsong voice.

"No I do-"

"You miss Freddie! You miss Freddie!" Carly was now dancing around as she sang.

"I don't miss-"

"You miss Freddie! You miss Freddie! You miss-"

"Alright!" Sam screeched, ending her friends rant "I miss him…a little…barely at all…you know it's such a small amount that it shouldn't even be counted as 'missing him'. Really, it-"

"Sam." Carly interjected calmly.

"Yeah?" she responded as she plopped down on the cough in defeat.

"It _is_ okay to miss him." Carly sat down next to Sam.

"I know…it just feels all weird to say it. I feel like I need to punch a AV Club nerd."

"Well maybe it feels all whacky because you refuse to admit you actually care about Freddie."

'_Oh I've admitted it…just not out loud.'_ Sam thought.

Carly stared at Sam.

"What do you want?"

"Say it."

Sam decided to play dumb "Say what?"

"Say you care about Freddie."

"What! No!" saying that kind of stuff out loud wasn't something Samantha Puckett did.

"Yes."

"No."

"_Yes_."

"_No_."

"Yes!"

"No!"

"Say you love Freddie Sam."

"Make me Shay."

"Say it!" Carly then tackled Sam in surprise. Carly pinned Sam down on one end of the couch "Say. It."

"You're kidding, right?" Sam asked, them within seconds swapped her and Carly's positions. Sam now on top "You really think you could 'beat' me into saying it?"

"Fine!" Carly screamed from under Sam "If you don't admit it I will forbid Spencer from buying ham and you will never get it from my house ever again!"

"You wouldn't." Sam almost growled.

"Try me."

Sam was motionless for a moment "Psh. You won't. I have nothing to worry about." she then got off of Carly.

The brunette stood up and went to grab her cell phone, Sam eyeing her each and every step. Carly scrolled through her contacts and found 'Big Bro'. She gave Sam a look that said _'you can stop this if you want'_. Sam just crossed her arms and returned a look of _'I'm not buying it'_.

Carly shrugged and hit the 'Dial' button.

Sam jumped up "What are you doing?"

"Shh! I'm on a call!"

Sam rose quickly "Carly…"

"I said quiet!" Carly said as she began to pace, waiting for Spencer to answer.

"Hang up Carly."

"Hey Spencer!" Carly said cheerfully as her brother answered.

"Carly. Hang up."

Carly put her hand in Sam's face and turned away from her "I need you to do me a favor."

"No. Carly. Give me the phone. Carly. Carly!"

"Yeah, I need you to add something to the 'no buy' list."

"Carly! Give me the phone!"

"Oh no, ignore Sam. It's nothing." Carly said into the phone "But the thing you need to add is-"

Carly was cut off as Sam jumped on her back while she screamed "Nooooooo!"

"Ahhhh! Sam get off! Ahhh!"

"Give me the phone!"

"Only if you say it!"

"Never!"

"Fine! Spencer, I need you to-"

"I love Freddie! Okay! Now stop the madness!"

Carly smiled triumphantly and handed the phone over.

Sam ripped the phone from Carly's hands as she jumped off her back and brought the phone to her ear "Forget what Carly said. The ham is now safe."

Spencer spoke from the other line _"Wait, what? Sam, what is going on over there?"_

"The ham is safe. That's all that matters."

"_Wait Sam, wh-"_

The blonde then hit the 'End' button rather than let Spencer finish and then glared at her friend "I can't _believe _you did that!"

"At least I made you make some progress."

"Progress?" while Sam asked she sat down on the couch.

"Yeah. I mean if you couldn't say it to me how would you have been able to say it to Freddie?" Carly joined Sam.

Sam was completely still. Her eyes were stuck on Carly "I-I have to tell _Freddie_?"

"Yes you have to tell Freddie! I've done everything possible including…" Carly trailed off, not wanting to say she'd kissed Freddie for some reason "Well, anyway, I can't do anything else. If we want Freddie back you have to do it."

Sam noticed Carly's pause, but ignored it "Do _what_ exactly?"

"You have to tell him everything."

"Everything?" the blonde's breath hitched in her throat.

"Yeah. What's the big deal?"

Sam just stared wide eyes at Carly, as if the answer was obvious.

Carly sighed "Look, I know you have trouble telling Freddie he means something to you. But it's not like you're going to tell him you…I dunno…have a crush on him or something." Carly smiled because that last line was supposed to comfort Sam.

Sam grew hot and averted her gaze from her best friend.

Carly's expression changed to confusion "You're not telling him that…right?"

Sam just continued to look away from Carly and not answer.

"Sam. Do you like Freddie or something?"

She just winced in response. But Carly didn't see since Sam still wasn't looking at her.

Carly pulled on Sam's shoulder and made Sam look in her eyes "Answer me. Do you like Freddie?"

Sam didn't want to answer, but deep down she new she had to "Maybe…"

Carly jumped up from her seat "Why didn't you tell me!"

"I did!"

"I think I would remember you telling me you have a crush on the kid you constantly torment and pretend to hate!"

"Obviously not because I told you!" Sam shouted as she rose from her seat and stood next to Carly.

"Then when did you tell me?"

"When I was talking to you about Melanie on Saturday."

Carly was motionless for a second "And _how _exactly was I supposed to know you were talking about you and Freddie?"

"I don't know! You're my best friend. You're just supposed to know stuff like that."

"Just because I know you almost as good as I know myself doesn't mean I'm a mind reader!"

"Please don't be mad." usually Sam enjoyed other people's anger. But never when it was Carly's.

The brunette sighed "I'm not mad. I just wished you would have told me."

Sam pulled Carly into a hug "Sorry. Can Mamma be forgiven?"

Carly laughed "Yes she can." the two let each other go and Carly spoke again "But you still have to tell Freddie."

Sam groaned.

"Do you want Freddie back or not?" Carly asked, determination in her voice.

"Please don't make me say it." Sam whined.

Carly put her hands on Sam's shoulders "I know you can do this."

"I don't think I can. I can barely tell you I like him."

"Why is it so hard for you to say and show Freddie how you feel? I mean you can do it easily with me and Spencer."

"Yeah but you guys are Carly and Spencer! He's-"

"Freddie?"

Sam just looked at her friend.

"Look Sam. If you care about Freddie half as much as you care about me, then you should love him enough to not want to let him go."

Sam did love both Carly and Freddie the same amount actually. Just in different ways "You really think I can tell him?" she asked with doubt.

"I'm positive." she replied with a confident smile.

Sam sucked in a hard breath "Okay. I'll do it."

Carly's smile widened "Go get him girl!"

Sam raised an eyebrow.

Carly's smile faded "Sorry. It felt like one of those moments."

Sam laughed "Thanks." and then she made her way out of the Shay apartment.

"Good luck!" Carly called after her. And she, for the first time since they'd lost Freddie, actually had hope the plan would work out in their favor.

* * *

**I still have a few things I'd like to do with this story, but we are nearing the end. I hope you are still liking it and I haven't disappointed you. Review please :)**


	12. Do or Die

Sam sucked in a shaky breath before she lifted her hand up to tap three times on Freddie Benson's door.

Her arm fell seconds once the knocks were completed, and she waited anxiously for the door to open.

After it had been roughly thirty seconds Sam wondered if she had to knock again. Her arm rose a second time and she prepared to knock again. But just as she was about to, the blonde heard a rustling from the other side so she hastily dropped her hand to her side.

As the door swung open Sam held her breath.

Before her stood Freddie. Upon seeing who had knocked he leaned against his door frame and crossed his arms. His look was a twist of anger and surprise. He was waiting for her to speak.

But she didn't. Sam couldn't bring her mouth to form words. Apologizing wasn't exactly 'her thing'. Nor was telling people how she felt. She normally just beat up others she felt something for…unless they were being annoying. They just deserved to be smacked until they were silenced.

Freddie let out an exasperated sigh "Look, did you come here to stand there doing nothing or does your visit actually have a purpose?"

This comment immediately caused Sam's fists to clench and her reflexes to want to start swinging limbs. But before she did anything her mind reminded her why she was here.

She breathed out to calm her testy attitude and tried to say what she wanted.

Nothing.

Freddie was growing impatient "Sam, if-"

The blonde furiously shook her head in protest, not even letting the boy finish "No, I came here to…I came here to…" she couldn't finish. Sam mentally smacked herself for having such a big ego. If she was only a bit softer maybe this wouldn't be so hard.

"To…?" the tech-loving teen asked.

"I came here to…say something." Sam forced out. God, if she couldn't even say this how was she going to tell him everything else?

Freddie waited for his ex-friend to continue. But when it looked like she wasn't going to he decided to push her on as he wanted to know what she came over for "And what is it that you wanted to say?"

"That…" she trailed off. _'No!'_ Sam scolded herself internally _'you _can_ do this!'_ "that…" _'Come _on_ Puckett. Just. Say. It.' _Sam looked at the floor, knowing she wouldn't be able to say this while looking at him. She said what she had to but the words rushed out so fast Sam was unsure it was even understandable. But hey, at least she said it, right?

Sam dared look back at Freddie. Hoping he got the message.

It didn't look like he did.

"Um…what?" he asked, his face contorted to pure confusion.

Sam groaned quietly. As if it wasn't hard enough to say it the first freaking time "I came here to say that I'm sorry for everything and to tell you that I think I did it because I care about you as more than a friend." as soon as the words had escaped Sam's lips fear consumed her. It was out there. Everything. She had confessed weakness. And now she awaited reaction from the person she confessed it to.

Freddie looked down at her. His expression unreadable.

The blonde grew hot under his stare. She desperately wanted him to speak. He seemed flustered. She couldn't tell if that was a good or bad thing.

Freddie stood up straight, taking his weight off his door frame. And then he spoke "I can't believe this."

"I know. I never thought I'd say that either." Sam said.

Freddie shook his head "No. I can't believe you would stoop so low. I know you're Sam Puckett but this is just ridiculous."

Sam was completely confused by his words. 'Stoop so low'? Since when was apologizing stooping?

Freddie continued to speak regarding the blonde's lack of understanding "Don't play dumb. First Carly and now you."

"What are you talking about?" seriously, what did Carly have to do with Sam liking and apologizing to Freddie?

"Carly kissed me this morning and since that didn't work she sent you to tell me you like me. When will you two give it a rest with messing with my head?"

The boy's words puzzled Sam "Carly kissed you?"

Freddie scoffed "Don't even act surprised. I bet it was all part of another plan you guys cooked up together. Having Gibby capturing me didn't work so you decide that lying and screwing with my feelings might do the trick. Here's an idea. Just try being honest!"

"What? Freddie, I am. I do-"

"What? Like me. Ha, as if. You know, normally I would have accepted that apology, but with the tagged on lie I think I'll pass."

Freddie began to close his door.

Sam put her foot in the slim space between the door and the wall, blocking it from closing "Freddie. No. I-"

Freddie kicked Sam's foot out of the way. Her weakened state must be affecting her all over.

"Just come back when you want to tell me sorry honestly and when you actually care if I come back or not. Oh wait, you're Sam Puckett. You don't care about anyone but yourself." he then slammed the door in her face.

The girl stood there bewildered for a few minutes. Completely numb with shock. Had that really just happened? She just apologized to Freddie and told him she liked him, and he didn't even believe her? She knew he was mad but seriously?

When the feeling returned Sam felt numerous things. But above all she felt rejected and hurt. And not just by Freddie, but Carly too. How could Carly have kissed Freddie and not told her? They were practically sisters. Why would she keep something like this from Sam?

The girl decided she needed to find out. Sam stormed back into Carly's apartment.

Carly jumped up from the couch, and clearly not taking in Sam's aura, she excitedly asked "How'd it go?"

"You kissed Freddie!" Sam snarled. She didn't usually take this tone with Carly but Sam was not in her realm of 'normal' today.

Carly was taken aback "Wh-what?"

"You kissed Freddie! I can't believe this!"

Carly was frozen for a second, then seemingly grasping what Sam was saying, she responded "Oh Sam. I'm sorry. But when I kissed him I didn't know you liked him. You can't be mad at me for that."

Sam shook her head and fell onto the Shay's couch. The anger melting from her "That's not why I'm mad."

Carly joined Sam "Then what is it?"

"Since you kissed him today, and since I told him I liked him today, he thinks it's all part of some pathetic plan we made up to mess with his head and his feelings. He thought I was lying to him." sorrow was clear in Sam's voice.

Carly mimicked her best friend's mood "Oh my God. I'm so sorry." Carly pulled Sam in for a hug.

When they broke apart Sam wiped a stray hair away from her face and let her hands fall into her lap "No, it's not you're fault. It's mine. Everything's my fault."

"No it's not." the brunette consoled "If I hadn't have kissed him things would be all better by now."

"Yeah, but if I had tried to help you get Freddie back sooner you wouldn't have felt you needed to kiss him as a last resort."

"But if I had calmed down and let Freddie breathe he would have been more willing to accept one of my earlier apologies instead of not accepting so many of the ones I said when he was mad, forcing me to kiss him."

"Yeah, but if I would have just cooled it with the insults and beatings we wouldn't be in this mess."

"But I should have stood up for him and we wouldn't be here either."

"So? If I just-"

"Sam stop." Carly put the blaming to a halt "It's no ones fault. We just have to keep in mind that we will get him back." she gave a weak smile.

"How?" Sam questioned, all hope seemingly lost.

"We'll…we can…I'll…" Carly tried desperately to think of something, but came up blank. The girl let out a loud sigh "Oh who am I kidding? When you go over there and apologize and he is still so mad he accuses you of lying, he's clearly not ready to take us back…maybe he never will."

Both fell silent. Sinking into their own separate worlds of thought.

Carly thought of depression, sorrow, failure, and how she'd lost one of her best friends.

Sam of anything and everything that might possibly work. While most things that crossed her mind were or would be completely unsuccessful, there was one that just might work. Though simple, it would be very difficult for Sam to do. But Freddie deserved it and she knew that it was her last chance. A do or die. If this didn't work, the blonde was positive nothing else would.

Sam stood up and strode for the door, not even telling Carly the plan.

"What are you doing?" Carly asked due to Sam's actions.

"Getting Freddie back." she responded vaguely and let the door slam behind her.

* * *

**Okay, I know that was insanely short, especially with how long the wait was for this update, but I'm just not in a pleasant place right now. The past few days have been hard and nothing good is coming my way. Sorry if it sucked, but I tried. Let me know what you thought please.**


	13. Return of the Fire Escape Apologies

**I know it's been forever but I guess my life has sort of drifted from writing all the time due to my need to stay on top of my grades. I apologize for the wait. This was originally going to be split into two different chapters but I figured I'd give you guys something extra because it's been so long.**

* * *

"Just let me talk to him!" Sam roared, now so frustrated with Mrs. Benson's refusal to let her see Freddie that she was about to just violently shove the woman out of the way.

"He doesn't want visitors." Freddie's mom said, once again, to the fuming blonde in the doorway.

"Listen lady!" Sam growled as she grasped Mrs. Benson's shirt collar, pulling the woman down to her level "If you don't let me see Freddie this second he's going to lose another parent." the blonde knew this was low, but after ten minutes of no progress with Freddie's mother, Sam had had enough.

Mrs. Benson swallowed hard, and nodded so slightly if Sam had blinked she would have missed it.

The blonde forcefully let her grip of the brunette's shirt go and she stormed into the apartment before her.

After finding Freddie's bedroom empty, her first reflex was to check the fire escape. It was where Freddie got away from the world.

She walked down the hallway, determination in each step; she was so ready to do this she was on the brink of insanity.

Sam's feet carried her without thought to the fire escape window, and once it was reached, she froze.

All the determination, all the courage, all the preparation she'd done beforehand, vanished within a millisecond. She was now a vulnerable, scared, and not ready to take on this task.

She was just about to turn around and head the other way like a chicken, but was halted when words emerged from the fire escape;

"What do you want Sam?" Freddie's tone was dry and tired "Come to tell me more lies?"

This set the blonde off. Rage suddenly filled Sam head to toe. She took a violent step outside to join Freddie as he sat in a blue lawn chair, his back facing her.

"Listen here Benson!" Sam hollered.

Freddie turned his chair around to face Sam, and he eyed her up and down.

Then it hit Sam as to why she was here. And that if she messed this one up she was out of chances.

She calmed herself down, and set on the steps before she spoke "Look…I'm here to apologize."

Freddie scoffed "Yeah. Apologize. I don't want to listen to you lie to me about how you actually care about me when you don't. Just spare us all the time and walk away."

This boiled Sam's blood, but she restrained herself "If that's how you feel then fine. If by the end of this you still don't believe I'm sorry, Carly and I will leave you alone. Permanently."

The boy raised his eyebrows in what seemed to be shock or alarm. This surprised Sam since it was as if Freddie didn't want this conversation to be the end.

When the boy didn't respond, Sam continued "Okay…I'm sorry. Really, I am. I don't blame you for thinking I was lying earlier. I know I screw with your head a lot and play tricks on you all the time. But honestly, today I'm not messing with you. I meant it. I…" Sam paused, still finding it hard to admit to Freddie her feelings "I _do_ like you. As in…more than a friend like. I don't know when or why it happened, but it did. But since it happened without me knowing it, I still picked on you and tormented you like I hated you. I mean, I don't even know when I started to think of you as more than a friend. I just found it so much fun to make you mad that I forgot to still be nice to you like friends do. I just kept forgetting over and over again. And since you never left or got _truly_ angry, I thought it was okay and I didn't need to be your friend because even if I was mean you'd still come back. You deserved better treatment. You still do. 'Cause I need you. Carly needs you. We both do."

Sam stopped talking. She was waiting for Freddie to respond. But he didn't. She guessed she had to keep going on the apology "I know I tell you that you're unimportant and that no one likes you, but I swear it's just another thing I did to mess with you. It's a lie. You are so important to me and Carly. I know you think that Carly doesn't care because if she did she would stand up for you. Well she does. Like the day you got mad at us, when you left to go wash the cupcake off your face, she told me I should be nicer to you. She really did. You don't see her stand up for you, but she does do it. She's so sorry for not doing it in front of you though. She misses you so much. You have no idea. It's like she's dead without you."

The blonde took another pause. She now desperately wanted Freddie to say something. He just stared at his hands while they sat folded in his lap. So Sam kept going, hoping something, _anything_ she'd say would make him talk "I'm sorry about your dad too."

This made the brunette's eyes shift to Sam, but they quickly dropped back to his hands leading Sam to continue "If I knew what had happened with him I wouldn't have even _thought _to say anything."

Sam ran her fingers through her curly locks. She began to grow hot from worry. With Freddie not speaking he was giving off a vibe that he was still unwilling to forgive her and Carly.

She spoke once again "I'm also sorry I didn't try to get you back earlier either. I just assumed Carly would take care of it all like she always does. I didn't think I had to do anything because I never had to before. But now I know. I'm just sorry I didn't figure it out sooner."

The silence that filled the air after Sam finished speaking was drowning her. She was suffocating from what Freddie's lack of words were saying. She needed him to speak because she needed oxygen.

In one last feeble attempt get a reaction out of Freddie she said "So…that's it I think." maybe he wasn't saying anything because he thought she was still talking and he wanted her to finish before speaking.

Or not.

Sam rose from the step she was sitting on. The lump in her throat growing each second form the tears she was fighting back. But she was going to finish this out strong.

Showing no sign of tears, she said "Okay, I guess…bye." and turned to leave the Benson residence; leaving a silent Fredward behind.

As soon as she stepped across the barrier of the window and out of the apartment, the tears began to fall.

While they streamed down her face Samantha Puckett was at a loss for words. All she knew was what she was feeling; pain. Pain that hurt like hell. This was why she never let people into her life. She let them in and then they hurt her. Every time. Even Carly had done it. They'd made up but it had happened regardless. But her and Freddie? Her gut told her there was no curing this.

The blonde walked with empty heartedness in her step. It seemed as if her soul had been sucked out but left behind the portion that allowed throbbing and ache. All the hurt she'd hidden away by torturing others was rushing to the surface in an unbearable wave of soreness.

Sam looked up at the sky. It was an abyss of gray clouds. As if they were reflecting just how she was feeling. All that was missing were-

A rain drop landed on Sam's nose.

The tears.

The rain started out lightly. Dropping down on Sam rarely, but its pace quickly enhanced to pouring within the time span of five minutes.

Though she didn't care. Even while the water soaked through her sweatshirt, her pants, and her t-shirt; she just didn't care.

The blonde's sneakers hit the pavement with every step, splashing the water underneath out in opposing directions.

As she cried, her tears wracked her entire body. Normally she never cried in front of anyone. Crying was a weakness; and Sam Puckett had no weaknesses.

Or so she let the world believe. But just like she didn't care about her wet clothes, she no longer cared about this either. She walked among the people of Seattle as they carried their umbrellas and started at her, and let them think she was a frail little girl who couldn't handle the stresses of life.

The blonde finally reached her doorstep after walking for a while. She shakily turned the doorknob to her home with her numb fingers and trudged inside. She thought about just crawling into bed in her soaked clothes, but the chills of the water were affecting her now and she was beginning to shiver.

Sam stripped off her sweatshirt, t-shirt and jeans and replaced them with sweatpants and an old sweatshirt of her mom's. She couldn't be bothered with how she looked right now.

She stumbled out into her living room and let herself melt into the couch. She sat in the fetal position; her wet and knotted hair falling around her face as she rested her chin on her knees.

The blonde just sat there, alone in the silence, thinking about what had just happened. How she'd just lost one of her best friends; someone she really cared about in more ways than one, and all because she couldn't not pick on him. She was a mess of emotion. She didn't know how to handle friendship or love. She always screwed it up no matter what she did. Just like every other Puckett, she was a failure.

There was a sudden knock on the front door, cutting through the silence of the home and Sam's thoughts. She slowly stood up, and put on her game face. Sam Puckett didn't show weakness to anyone. What had happened on her walk home was a onetime thing. Right then and there she vowed to never let it happen again.

The blonde opened the door, totally not expecting what was waiting for her. Standing on front of her, was a Freddie Benson, sopping wet from his walk to Sam's house in the rain. Drops of water fell from his hair as the rain continued to fall down on him.

"What do you want Fredward?" she snapped, covering her soft side she seldom let others see. What he had gotten earlier was over.

Freddie never answered. He just stood there silently. His eyes boring into hers. But Sam didn't say anything anymore either. Something about the boy's look made her calm down. Her anger subsided and was replaced with a feeling of peace. She didn't want to yell, she didn't even want to speak. The two just stared at each other.

Then, without warning, Freddie bent down and pressed his lips to hers. He was very gentle about it; as if he was afraid to be hurt by the action.

Sam was frozen at first. Not expecting a kiss at all. But then she let herself go and gave in. And lacking words, Sam told Freddie with her lips that she was alright with what he was doing and that she wanted more. Once Freddie had this approval, he let go as well.

Once the kiss was deepened both Sam and Freddie pulled each other closer. Freddie rested one hand on the girls' waist, and the other on the back of her head. Sam placed both hers in Freddie's hair; allowing them to get tangled in his brown locks. As the sparks flew the emotions soared; so happy to be free they were in a frenzy.

After a few more seconds, the two separated. They pressed their foreheads to each others, breathless.

"I believe you." whispered Freddie softly, and Sam smiled, unable to help herself. A complete and immense joy filling her entire soul from her core.

"You couldn't have said that an hour ago? You decided to make me wait, and then soak me in the rain instead?"

The pair shared a small laugh "Yeah." Freddie chuckled "I guess I did."

The two teens' lips connected again in a fiery need due to the want being kept captive for so long. But before the kiss could go too deep Sam retreated.

"Wait." she whispered.

Freddie waited for Sam to continue but when she didn't he asked "What?"

The blonde disconnected her's and Freddie's foreheads.

"What happened?" she asked as she took three steps back into her home.

"Um…I kissed you?" Freddie's response came out as more of a question than an answer.

She shook her head "No. I mean…_why_ did you kiss me? I thought you hated me. After you didn't say anything when I talked to you I-"

"No I don't hate you." Freddie interrupted as he walked into Sam's house out of the rain.

The blonde closed the door behind him as she waited for the boy to continue.

Freddie let out an exasperated sigh as he plopped on the couch, trying to figure out where he could begin.

After a minute or so of silence Sam sat next to him "You okay?"

Freddie let out another sigh "Yeah. I just don't know where to start."

"Well why don't you start with why you kissed me." Sam couldn't help the light smile that tugged at the corner of her mouth.

"Because I like you." the brunette answered as if it was the most simple answer in the world.

Sam's patience abruptly began to wear thin, but she tried to compose herself because from the looks of it Freddie, her's, and Carly's friendship problem was finally making some progress "And how long have you liked me?"

"I dunno. I guess ever since we kissed on the fire escape I've always felt a little something there. I just didn't say anything because I figured with how you treated me you hated me and would never go out with me."

Now it was Sam's turn to be speechless. She was silent for a few moments and Freddie allowed her to contemplate a response. But when she couldn't think of anything to say Freddie continued speaking.

"You don't have to say anything. Besides, if anyone should be talking it should be me." the blonde's eyes locked with the boy next to her as he continued to speak "I'm sorry. I-"

Sam already had to cut him off "Why are you sorry? Carly and I are the ones who-"

This time Freddie was the one who interrupted "No. You weren't. Just let me explain" the teen took a deep breath and averted his eyes; a sign of fright and worry "I…well the reason that…" he let out a sigh. He was having a very hard tine wording this "I'm sorry because I lied to you." Freddie finally let out.

Sam cocked a brow in confusion "Lied about what?"

His answer was hesitant…a little too hesitant for Sam's liking.

"Lied about what?" she asked again, now letting her natural defenses kick in as her voice became more threatening. It didn't matter that she liked Freddie. No one lies to Sam Puckett.

Freddie rose from his seat, picking up on his sixth sense that told him to back away from the blonde "Well…just..." he began pacing around the living room in stayed seated, holding back her bubbling anger. She couldn't lash out now. And she knew it. So she stared at him. Praying she could scare him into spilling without hurting him.

Freddie's pacing sped up and he ran his fingers through his short brown locks of hair. He grew hot and his face was shifting to a light shade of red. He knew he had to say everything now but the fear shown clearly upon his face was preventing him of doing so.

At this point Sam rose to her feet and slowly made her way to Freddie "What did you lie about?" the words came out as almost a growl.

The boy swallowed hard "Umm…well…" he took a step back from the blonde in front of him before he finished his sentence "You know how I said I stopped talking to you because you made fun of me and beat me up?"

Sam progressed forward "Yes."

The brunette in turn moved back "Well…that's not…that's not exactly why."

Sam was torn between ripping Freddie's throat out and asking him sweetly was the real reason was. But her two sides, The Sam That Picks On Freddie and The Sam Side That Likes Freddie, couldn't make a decision. So she stayed frozen in her spot, battling her inner souls.

After about a minute of pure silence from Sam, Freddie began to get scared. Sam not talking meant bad things. And bad things meant Freddie got hurt.

"Uh…Sam?" he asked, nearly choking on his panic.

Her lips moved in response but no words came out. He could tell she was struggling…but with what he did not know.

Eventually she got out five words, just enough to continue the conversation "What's the real reason then?"

"Well I…" the boy trailed off and then quickly averted directions to move back to the sofa.

Sam, while still fighting her inner beings, followed.

"Okay…the _real_ reason I dropped you and Carly wasn't because you picked on me and she didn't stick up for me. Honestly it would freak me out to be around you and you not pick on me at all. It's just how you and I are. And I don't blame Carly for staying out of our fights. We don't listen anyway. But I actually did it because I was…" Freddie didn't want to admit this out loud. He sighed "…was because I was tired of being rejected."

Sam was speechless. No words could describe everything going through her mind at that moment.

The brunette sat quietly while he waited for his friend to process what she'd just heard. He didn't know how she was going to react. But frankly, he was just happy he hadn't been punched yet.

The silence soon became too much for Freddie to handle. He wanted to finish talking, but he also didn't want to mess with Sam's head right now. She already seemed flustered.

"Sam…?" Freddie let out "Are…are you alright?"

The blonde stayed motionless. She truly was unsure of how to answer his question.

"Please don't be mad. I know I shouldn't have done that. I'm a complete idiot. I just…" he trailed off once again, then sighed "I just wanted you to like me."

The girl stared at Freddie in awe.

"Don't look at me like that! With the way you treated me I had every right to think you hated my guts and only were nice to me because Carly made you." Freddie was now being defensive as he rose his voice. He was going to continue talking, but Sam spoke instead.

"Wait a minute…if you were tired of rejection from _me_ why did you cut Carly out too?"

"That's a good question."

After remaining quiet for a few moments to give Freddie time to respond more, Sam figured she had to push him along "And the answer to that question is?"

He sighed "I did it for a few reasons. When I first walked out of the apartment that day I truly believed that the reason I was dropping you guys was because of what I told you. That I wasn't coming back until I got respect. That you guys weren't the friends I wanted. That wasn't true. I was lying to myself. I know that now. It took me a while to figure out what the real problem was. Like I said, the rejection from you-"

"I asked about Carly-"

The brunette put a finger up to silence his friend "Not just from you Sam; her too. I had the biggest thing for her for God knows how long. And every day she rejected me. It never really got to me until I realized I liked you and discovered I was being rejected by _another_ girl. I know you probably think I'm a baby but it made me think that I sucked and that I wasn't good enough for anyone."

"Don't say that Freddie." She decided to let her sympathetic side take over.

"Can you blame me? Even when I was being completely nice to you it seemed like I was nothing."

"What are you talking about?"

"Remember the day I walked out?"

Sam's first instinct was to say something along the lines of _"well that's kind of a stupid question."_ But she restrained to saying "Yeah."

"Remember how I was being nice and letting you get your way with everything?"

"_That's_ what you were doing? I thought you were ignoring all my advances to start a fight just to bother me."

Freddie couldn't help but let out a laugh "No. I was trying to see if I treated you different if we would change or not."

Sam cocked a smile "Well in a super messed up way your plan worked Benson." She gave him a light punch on the arm, then completely froze.

The boy glanced at her with a raised brow "It's okay for you to do that you know." He was referring to the punch.

She slowly shook her head "No…I just realized I'm sitting here in a ratty old t-shirt and sweatpants."

He smirked "Sam, I've seen you eating ribs and every other food imaginable like an animal. Old clothes aren't going to faze me."

The girl in Samantha rose from within and she blushed slightly.

Freddie leaned forward once more and kissed her gently much to her enjoyment.

"Hey Freddie?" she whispered. She had one more question for him.

"Yes Sam?"

"What are we?"

"How do you mean?"

"Like…friends…friends with benefits…boyfriend/girlfriend?"

He smiled "What do you think?"

* * *

**I'm seriously unhappy with how this chapter ended, but I figured if I waited one more day to try and fix it you' all come after me with pitchforks and torches considering it has been forever already. I hope you find it satisfying though. There is only an epilogue left in iAm Finished. And I know it's a lot to ask since I didn't update quickly like you all had hoped and requested, but please leave me a review and let me know how I did :)**


	14. Epilogue

**I'm glad you all liked the last chapter despite how I felt it turned out. And thank you for the reviews :) They really do make a writer smile. And as promised; here is the epilogue to iAm Finished!**

* * *

Shortly after Sam's confrontation with Freddie, she walked into the Shay apartment, an unreadable expression was plastered to her face.

Carly, who had been sitting on the couch biting her nails since Sam had left, sprung upward upon her best friends entrance. The brunette stared expectantly at her friend as she sat down on the couch and propped her feet up.

Sam picked up the remote and turned on the TV.

Carly, now figuring she had to say something to get her friend to talk, sat down next to Sam and almost yelled "Well how'd it go!" from anticipation.

Sam clicked off the TV; she'd only turned it on as a ten second distraction anyway. Her head turned to face Carly's wide eyes. She was quiet for a moment before answering.

"Well…" she began, then rose from her seat "He…he's a really good kisser." a smirk broke through her emotionless face as she let out a joyful giggle.

It took Carly a moment to react, but then she jumped up screaming and pulled Sam into a deadly tight hug. Both girls were so happy it was indescribable. Smiles stretched as far across their faces as possible.

At that moment the door opened and a very special boy walked in.

Carly dropped her hug with Sam as her eyes lit up.

"Freddie!" she screamed as tears began forming in her eyes. She ran at him full speed and wrapped her arms around him as he smiled back and returned the gesture.

"I'm sorry Carls." he said into her ear.

"No." she shook her head "I'm sorry. Freddie, I-"

The boy pulled back from the hug and put a finger on Carly's lip to stop her from apologizing "Let's just put it behind us. Just know I'm sorry too okay?"

Carly grinned and nodded as Freddie pulled her back into their previously interrupted hug.

"I missed you Freddie." Carly whispered as she squeezed him tighter.

"I missed you too Carls."

Sam watched with a smile on her face as her two best friends, or, well, boyfriend and best friend, hugged. She was just as happy as both of them.

Just then Spencer opened the front door to come inside, and nearly rammed it into Carly and Freddie, causing them to separate and back up to where Sam was.

As soon as Spencer saw what he'd disrupted he froze with a puzzled look on his face. He looked at the three lined up across the room from Sam on the right to Freddie in the middle and Carly on the left. All three with smiles on their faces.

"Wait…" he began as the pieces began falling into place in his mind "are you guys…?" he didn't even finish his sentence for his meaning to get across.

Carly laughed and said "Yes! We're all friends again!" and then the iCarly trio embraced in a group hug. The older Shay shared in the joy and walked up to the teens, joining their hug.

LINE

A week later Carly, Sam, and Freddie were running around the iCarly studio getting ready for their first show since the falling out.

"You got the jar of fudge?" Carly asked Freddie.

He nodded and pointed toward his tech kart "Yeah it's- wait, where'd it go?"

After one second both of them turned to look at Sam, who was standing by the car, the can of fudge in once hand, a spoon in the other.

The boy walked over to the blonde "Sam, give me the fudge."

She glared at him "Why?"

"Because we need it for the skit."

"Use something else!"

"Sam." Freddie said sternly "Fudge. Now."

"No!"

Freddie shook his head and half smiled "Fine. But you forced me." he then leaned forward and pressed his lips to hers.

After a few seconds he pulled back.

"What was the point of that?" Sam asked, a grin tugging at the corners of her own mouth.

"Here's the fudge Carly." Freddie stated as he handed the jar over to Carly.

"Thank you Freddie." the brunette replied with a smirk.

"How did you do that!" Sam roared.

Carly laughed "He took it from you while you were sucking face!"

"I told you not to call it that!" Sam screamed, and went after her friend, a spoon her only weapon.

As the girls chased each other around, Freddie watched with amusement and went back to his kart to finish setting things up for the show that started in one minute.

At the thirty second mark, the boy called out to the girls how much tie they had to stop.

But at the twenty second mark they still had not stopped murderously hunting each other.

Freddie threw his hands up in frustration, readied his camera, and with 15 seconds left typed a code into his laptop. The following five seconds were filled with an extremely loud horn that caused both girls to stop dead in their tracks and cover their ears.

"What!" they both screeched together.

The boy shut off the noise and shouted "Ten seconds till show!"

Suddenly, both girls were scrambling to get ready. Smoothing their hair and freaking out.

"In five-"

"Booger check!" Sam yelled.

"Four-"

The girls checked each other to make sure they were both set.

"Three-"

"Good!" Carly confirmed.

"Two-"

"Clear!" Sam stated. And the two repositioned themselves in front of the camera.

"And we're on!"

"WE'RE BAAAAAAAAAAACK!" the best friends hollered as an effect zoomed in and out of their faces.

"Did you miss us?" Sam asked as she made an innocent face.

Carly scoffed "Of course they missed us Sam!"

They both began laughing as the lights went wild.

Then everything went creepily dark and Freddie focused really close on the girls as Carly began talking eerily "Because if they _didn't_ miss us and still watch our show, they are unloyal fans. And what do we do to unloyal fans Sam?"

Sam mimicked Carly's tone "We go after them…with…A STICK AND A CAN OF FUDGE!"

They then whipped out their so called "weapons" and began screaming freakishly.

* * *

"Okay guys," the blonde said as she tossed a now destroyed laptop off to the side "now that you know another thing your laptop is _not_ used for, I'm afraid we only have one more thing planned before the show is over." then Sam began fake-crying.

"No! Don't cry Sam!" Carly said.

"But I'm just so sad Carly!"

"I know what can cheer you up!" the brunette stated and then pulled out a pair of colorful socks and handed them to Sam.

Immediately the blonde perked up "Yay! Socks! I love…" she trailed off and began to fake-cry again.

"What's wrong Sam?"

"The socks say 'Monday'…but it's not Monday!"

As Sam broke out into hysterics, Carly cried "No! I can make his better!" and she pulled out another pair of socks.

Sam looked at then and halted her 'tears'.

"Better?" Carly asked.

Sam nodded, a goofy grin placed on her face.

"Well zoom in on them Freddie!" Carly ordered and the boy obeyed.

In between the many colors of the socks was the word _Seddie_.

"Switch cameras Freddie and join us out here!" the brunette instructed.

Within a very short amount of time, the boy was standing between the two girls, all three of them smiling.

"We have a special announcement iCarly fans." Carly beamed "Our very own Sam Puckett and Freddie Benson are a couple! So sorry Creddie fans, the Seddiers have won!"

Freddie and his girlfriend smiled and Freddie pulled Sam in close "I sure won indeed."

This made the blonde blush.

Carly, seeing an opportunity, grabbed Sam's remote from the tech kart. She hit a button and a loud _"Awwwwwwww!"_ coursed through the room.

The blonde gave her bestie a death glare, but let it slide.

Suddenly, Carly froze in a position that reflected the emotion of an ultimate realization "Wait!" she shouted "This is missing something."

Both Freddie and Sam looked at their friend, curious expressions on their faces.

"What?" they both questioned.

"Well…" the brunette began "we have a couple…and we are broadcasting to an audience. From experience, audiences love it when couples express their…let's call it love for each other." she cocked a smile.

Sam gaped in horror "Oh no."

Carly giggled "Oh yes." she then clicked another button on Sam's remote and a loud _"Kiss!"_ chant filled the room.

Sam glared so evilly at Carly that if looks could kill Carly would have been in a body bag right then.

Freddie leaned down and whispered in Sam's ear "Calm down babe, just pretend no one's watching."

"But-" Sam protested, but was cut off before she could even get a second word out.

"It's just you and me." Freddie then lifted her chin up with his finger, and leaned in to press his lips to the blonde's.

Though she was highly against having an internet-wide kiss with Freddie, as soon as the two's lips touched, Sam forgot the world was watching. Freddie moved his hands to her back and Sam wrapped her arms around Freddie's neck.

The _"Kiss!"_ chant disappeared promptly and was followed by the cheering sound again.

Freddie and Sam broke apart shortly, but the kiss was long enough to satisfy the iCarly fans and Carly, and to have Sam's anger melt away.

"Alrighty iCarly fans!" Carly called as she jumped closer to the camera "That's it for this show! But come back next week! We'll be here helping George come up with some _actual_ ghost stories. And if we can't think of anything? Well, I guess you'll see all the things the iCarly gang can do with…" she trailed off as she picked up a bucket and grabbed a handful of it's contents "PUMPKIN GUTS!" she then threw a handful at the camera, blocking out it's lens.

And Freddie, who had moved during Carly' signing off speech to his computer, called out "And we're clear!"

Just then, Sam remembered that she was very upset with Carly. Her death glare returned.

The brunette girl, seeing this, said "Oh come on Sam, don't be mad. You _know _the Seddie supporters were dying to see that."

Sam didn't say anything logical, she just began screaming and chasing Carly around the studio.

Freddie, knowing he could do absolutely nothing, just laughed as he watched his two favorite girls run around the room like four year olds.

Unexpectedly, Spencer then burst through the door, a salad spoon ready as a weapon in each hand "Leave them alone!" he yelled, now in a kung-fu position as he searched the room.

This caused the girls to freeze in place and stare at Spencer.

Through his laughter, Freddie choked out "What are you doing?"

Spencer dropped his kung-fu pose and pointed one of the salad tossers at Sam and Carly as he said "Well I heard frantical screeching so I though that maybe that old hobo from downstairs came up here and was trying to hurt you guys."

Carly giggled "And you were going to protect us with salad tongs?"

Spencer glowered at his sister "It was the first thing I could grab whilst making dinner."

"Whilst?" Sam questioned, cocking an eyebrow "Has Spencie been learning proper English?" she mocked.

"Well Sam," Cary started "you have to remember not even two minutes ago he said the word 'frantical'." the two then broke out in laughter, completely forgetting they were just fighting.

Spencer rolled his eyes "You know what? Fine. But when that old hobo really does break in here, don't expect me to save you!"

"Aww Spencer," the youngest Shay said as she wandered over to her brother and hugged him around the waist "I'm sorry. Thank you for protecting us from the evil hobo."

The man smiled "You're welcome."

Sam and Freddie shared a glance, and then they both shrugged as they walked over and joined the hug.

A few seconds into the embrace, Spencer looked at the blonde and said "Hey Sam?"

"Yeah?" she looked up.

"I saw the show…you and Fredster are really good at sucking face." he then winked with a smirk.

"DON'T CALL IT THAT!" the girl screeched as she stole one of Spencer's salad tongs and began beating him with it.

Spencer screamed and ran out of the room to escape the vicious hits and Sam chased after him.

Carly and Freddie stood side by side chuckling lightly as Carly said "Ah. The love of friendship."

"Haha yeah." Carly agreed "Should we go to make sure she doesn't kill him?"

"That's probably a good idea."

Just then, a loud and girly scream that sounded exactly like Carly's was heard from the main floor of the Shay apartment.

"Carly…" Freddie said with confusion "how did you scream from downstairs when you're next to me?"

Carly laughed lightly "What can I say? All us Shay's seem to have the same scream."

* * *

**I know that took forever, but it's done now. I wanted to thank all the readers and reviewers of iAm Finished :) It means a lot to a writer when people enjoy their writing. Love you guys!**


End file.
